Pôle optique

The building housing the Telecom Saint Etienne engineering school was designed by the firm AAGroup (at that time ARCH); Metallerie du Forez won the tender that included the façade, selecting Tolerie Forezienne to realise it.
The architectural philosophy of the project was to create a strong gesture that would be emblematic of the school. The architects imagined a glass slide in the centre of a façade that was half mineral, half stainless steel. This choice was determined in the project in reference to the training of TELECOM Optical Engineers, symbolising the “Vision” activity carried out in the optical Pole and more generally representing the new technologies that have been developed there.
The stainless steel façade totals 250 m2, including 200 m2 of folding brise-soleil installed in front of the windows. This material offers several advantages: the stainless steel adds value to the look of the façade, on the technical level it is corrosion-proof, and finally its use provided much freedom for adapting it to all of the buildings. TF, with its significant experience in working with stainless steel (8000 tonnes of stainless steel transformed within the group), provided not only proven reliability, but also proposed solutions and gave advice regarding the openwork of the metal sheets and the design of the openings. The final result achieved the original objectives: this is one of the signature buildings that promotes Saint Etienne’s reputation as a dynamic and innovative city.