Since 2006, the National Grand Prix of Engineering competition (Grand Prix National de L’Ingénierie GPNI*) has rewarded engineers who design innovative solutions to meet tomorrow’s challenges. This year, the competition honored a joint operation of engineers (setec) and architects RPBW by awarding the GPNI* to the Justice Court of Paris.  This prestigious award comes after setec’s 2012 win for the Louis Vuitton Foundation for Creation.    Of an innovative design, associated with a strong urban gesture, this exemplary building in terms of sustainable development combines efficiency and performance. Ranked as a vital public facility, the building raised extremely complex technical issues that setec were able to answer while ensuring a continuity of compelling service. Symbol of a Justice that is transparent, orderly and understated, this new building has met many challenges not only where urban, societal, energy and environmental are concerned but also through a continuity of service. This joint application engineers/architects, to the National Engineering Grand Prix came naturally due to the technical complexity of the project, a fully integrated architecture, is the result of a symbiosis between the architects and the engineers.   

A rewarded joint application engineers/architects

 The Justice Court of Paris project began in August 2010 with the signing of a Public Private Partnership (PPP) contract between the Public Justice Establishment and Arelia. The project management was entrusted to Bouygues Building, in charge of the design and implementation and to the consortium consisting of Renzo Piano Building Workshop (RPBW), the architect, setec TPI and setec Batiment in charge of respectively the structure and the technical issues of the building as well as the environmental matters.       

An innovative technical design combined with a concern of the urban surroundings:

   Due to its location, the importance of the building blending into its surroundings was a decisive option for the future urban policy of Paris. The Justice Court of Paris weaves a strong bond between Paris and its suburbs. From this conscious urban gesture comes an extremely long horizontal building, (170m Long) and rises vertically at a 1/17th reaching an all-out height of 160m, the building measures only 22m wide with a core of only 9,45meters wide.   The technical feasibility of such a “Slim-Building” was made possible thanks to an innovative and coordinated technical design (divided into three vertical blocks by expansion joints, enlargement of the cores in the lower part to recover the inertia) and precise wind studies (wind tunnel tests at the CSTC, dynamic calculations per time step). On the other hand, the shear keys invention at three levels has ensured the homogeneity of the transverse movements between the three blocks. Reinforced floors, made of restressed concrete were able to create three “narrow waists” to house the garden levels. An advanced study of the foundations made it possible to control the differential deformations under the three cores of height and the different loads.   

An exemplary building in terms of sustainable development

   Intentionally perfected in terms of sustainable development, the project aims to optimize the intrinsic qualities of the building by seeking an optimum between the operating costs, energy consumption and the comfort of the consumers and users   A bioclimatic building HQE® certified   The Justice Court of Paris falls within the framework of the important requirements set for the creation of the Clichy-Batignolles eco-district. From this perspective, the challenges of sustainable development have been united from the very beginning of the project allowing to combine architectural prowess, comfort for the users and high energy performance. The use of natural ventilation in the “Salle des pas perdus” (lobby), a powerful crystalline façade to maximize natural lighting while protecting from sunlight are some of the answers provided by this bioclimatic architecture.   

Photovoltaic panels installed on the IGH façade: a first in France

   The unique feature of this building, the photovoltaic panels, are an integral part of the architecture of the IGH façade giving it its density. They have been positioned and orientated to capture a maximum of heat potential so as to produce the electrical needs for the building.  

Solid programmatic requirements demanding effective and efficient technical installations

   Ranked as a vital public facility, the building has raised technical issues of an extreme complexity, which setec were able to answer while ensuring a continuity of compelling service.   

 
• A centralized ventilation worthy of an industrial building

 

   Two brick air handling units, each with 6 ventilators of which 2 are redundant, deliver a total of 400 000m3/h, were created to meet the ventilation requirements for the Justice Ministry.   A genuine 50m² cathedral high frontal section each exceeding a length of 15m, these ultra-secure units allow to control the technical influence and the budget and to guarantee the availability of all ventilation at all times.  

 
• Securing the facilities

 

   The Courthouse is in constant movement and the level of security of the technical facilities must be particularly high. The air conditioning system is carried out by 6 refrigeration units 2 of which are recurrent, distributed to 3 different technical premises thus ensuring a continual functioning on the event of loss in a production room. The chilled water is distributed throughout the courthouse by 2, 100% recurrent primary networks. Ventilation equipment in sensitive rooms is recurrent to ensure continuity of service in the event of a CTA fault.   The performance of the facilities is continuously analyzed by an ultra-comprehensive GTB which handles more than 100,000 points. This type of supervision can automatically provide backup when a problem arises in the installations due to predefined scenarios. It can also anticipate anomalies, diagnose and perform effective decision support allowing the operator to manually control the installation.   

Blending in the use of BIM

   Before the launch of the digital mission concerning the building in 2014, and while no standardization or methodological guide even existed, the project group took the initiative in 2011 to design the Justice Court of Paris entirely with a miniature model on REVIT. Architects and engineers not only produced the graphic document, plans, axonometric, details, but also the quantity surveys and quantitative using the model.   Systems dimensioning tools were specifically developed during the studies to use all the information present in the model database. The digital model also made it possible to coordinate the different disciplines.  

The first tower built inside the Parisian walls since the Tour Montparnasse in 1973

   The Justice Court of Paris which is 160m high, will bring together on a single site on the industrial zones of Clichy-Batignolles, the original High Court actually situated in the heart of Paris on the Ile de la Cité, over 20 different small courthouses which are based in the capitals mayors offices and the Police court house which is situated the in 19th district of Paris, thus enhancing the uniqueness of justice.   

The key figures:

   A city unto itself, the building has 170,000sqm of built surface (105,000sqm of floor area, 61,500sqm of used space), 90 courtrooms with a capacity of 5,000 places, 3,650 court officials, 205 prison cells and will welcome over 9000 visitors a day. http://www.tribunaldeparis.setec.fr   

Members of the winning team:

 Pauline Bleicher               Project Manager Setec Building Jean-Bernard Datry        Project Manager Setec TPI Martial Gajdosik              Manager of CVCD Pole setec building Audrey Zonco                   Manager of structure project setec tpi Renzo Piano                      Architect, founder and president of the RPBW agency Bernard Plattner             Architect, partner at the RPBW agency   The project management group consists of RPBW, Setec building, Setec TPI, RFR, BERIM, MOVVEO, Majorelle, Ecotech and Lamoureux Acoustics.   The GPNI is designed and realized by Syntec Engineering, the professional federation of engineering France, in partnership with the Ministry of Environmental and Solidarity Transition, The DGE (The General Direction of Enterprises of the Ministry of Economy and Finance) and in association with the Group “Le Moniteur”.