Immeuble Les Salins

The master plan for the redevelopment of the district of Lyon Confluence provided the implementation of some iconic buildings along the banks of the Saône river, situated between preserved warehouses and equipments of the ancient industrial harbour of the city.
Winner of the competition, the architects Jakob + Mac Farlane, suggested two parallelepiped buildings, an orange, the other green, pierced by a series of extruded holes bringing light and ventilation in the heart of the buildings.

The first built was the Salins, the 'orange cube', occupied by the offices of Cardinal Group, the orginal client and developer of the Lyon Confluence site.
The exterior facades consist of the superposition of a curtain wall with a external alluminium cladding composed of largely perforated panels with a regular frame of hexagonal holes, on which is sur-imprimed a random pattern of 'bubbles' of different diameters.
The distribution of glass and opaque panels on the curtain wall is variable and plays with the variability of the aluminium skin.
This double variability generates a surprising optical effect, giving depth to the facade.
The aluminum panels constituting the external skin are made by digital laser cutting and then powder-coated.
The external skin constitutes a simple and economical system to improve the solar control and participate to the energetical efficiency of the building.
The conical cavities contain on each floor a series of fully glazed stripes that allow to improve the lighting in the centre of the building.

Between them, the double courved geometry is cladded with opaque aluminum panels of triangular shape, all differents.