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Charles de Gaulle Airport Terminal 2E, Paris Design: Aéroports de Paris Ready for take off with Timber?
Charles de Gaulle AirportTerminal 2E, Paris
Design:
Aéroports de Paris
Ready for take off with Timber?
Finnforest Merk’sprecision engineering is breathtakingThe beauty of the vast 700 metre long barrel-vaulted concourse of Terminal 2E at Charles
de Gaulle Airport in Paris lies not only in its striking exterior of glass and steel, but in the
contrasting warmth of the suspended internal timber shell.
“Ultimately, Finnforest wasthe best timber engineeringcompany that could berelied on to deliver the totalsolution, from sourcing theraw materials through to theend installation.Thecompany’s expertise hasenabled ADP to achieve adesign vision to thespecified quality, withinbudget and on time.”Wasthe statement of Aéroportsde Paris.
Design overview
Rising from the first floor of theconcourse, the impressivearched form was designed byAéroports de Paris to evoke themany Parisian bridges that crossthe River Seine, and realised intimber to introduce a naturalwarmth to the structure’sinterior.
The overall desire was to avoidany kind of uniformity ormonotony, instead allowing theexpressiveness of the naturalwood to characterise the overalldesign. In so doing, the newterminal presents a fascinating
contrast to the multitude ofconcrete that is so prevalent inother areas of the airport.
Technical explanation
Made of premium qualityFinnish birch plywood, the 150arches span 32 metres, are 20metres high and weigh almost atonne each. A total of 130standard arches, eachcomprising six sections of up to8.5 metres, were engineeredoff site by Finnforest Merk.Whilst the 20 wider arches,used to separate each of the 10zones, were built up on site atthe terminal itself. As these
were too large to pre-fabricateoff site and transport, hundredsof individual battens wereinstead fixed by hand on site.
Minute attention was given tothe aesthetics of everyindividual element. Each 8.5msection required over 100European ash faced Finnishbirch plywood battens, selectedfor its ability to meet thedemanding technicalrequirements of such a hugestructure. Adding to thecomplexity was a specific visualeffect, stipulated by thearchitect, which prescribed theexact sequence of the battensbased on grade and shading.
Logistics and partnering by
FFMerk
Ultimate precision, throughoutthe entire process, was key tofulfilling the required tolerancesin forming the arches. Bespokejigs were custom-built to ensureaccuracy, and as a resultFinnforest Merk ensured thatevery single arch sectionperfectly matched thespecifications.
Captions to drawings
Taking in account the tolerances and the deformations of the steel structure Finnforest Merk developed asystem of fixation that allows adjusting the prefabricated elements according to the three directions radial,tangential and horizontal.
To maintain the stability of the opening of the outlet for the air conditioning system the designer used anenforcement of 12mm plywood which as well serves as support for the blind of the aerator.
The shading lamellas between the arcs are parted in groups of six straight and seven curved lamellas. Therequirement in the fixation of these lamellas was to allow the longitudinal movement; therefore the lamellashad to have slotted holes at both ends. Another aspect was that the shading should be removable formaintenance reasons.
www.finnforest.deFor more information visit our website, send us an email [email protected] or call +49 8251 908-164
Finnforest Merk GmbHIndustriestraße 2D-86551 Aichach
Germany
