Jean-Paul Viguier et Associés, in partnership with Eiffage and Woodeum, have won the competition for a 57 meter timber tower in the Saint-Jean Belcier district of Bordeaux, France. A tower and two shorter buildings, the 17,000 square meter mixed-use project contains housing, offices, and retail space, and is part of a larger master plan intent on spurring development in the vicinity of the Bordeaux-Saint-Jean railway station. The project name “Hyperion” is a reference to the world’s tallest living tree (a Sequoia sempervirens in Northern California) and emphasizes the proposal’s vanguard use of timber materials.
The project’s tower element utilizes laminated veneer lumber (LVL) and glulam for a post and beam substructure, it employs cross-laminated timber (CLT) for flooring, and lumber is essential to the facade framework that is also accented with wood. A series of cantilevered balconies shade the main tower from direct sun while simultaneously preserving views. Balcony gardens and green roofs on the adjacent lower structures mitigate light and regulate the project's climate. The steel and glass elements of the facade embrace thermal glazing for solar protection and insulation.
Hyperion will adhere to Association for Low Carbon Buildings (BBCA) standards enacted by France in December of last year. The firm hopes that this project will grant more visibility to low carbon, timber building and the practical time-saving measures enabled by these methods. Construction of the project will begin next year and completion is expected in 2019.
