Fondation Louis Vuitton
Construction of a museum. The building housing the Louis Vuitton foundation is of an outstanding design and one of the most striking contemporary buildings in Paris. It comprises mainly exhibition galleries, an auditorium and office support facilities.
The building is enveloped in a set of glass “sails”, or canopies, totalling 13,700 m², each with a different shape and curvature giving the building its distinctive architectural appearance. Some of the canopies protect the terraces against the elements (rain, wind and snow). The secondary function of these canopies is to reduce solar radiation on the building. These huge glass panels offset from the main body of the building are supported and stabilised on a set of timber or steel pillars (“tripods”) and cables, of varying slopes and lengths. The roof structure is a combination of glulam timber beams and steel profiles. The glass covering is made up of quadrangular curved panels, each geometrically unique.
Mission
Construction studies for the glass canopies: verification of the steel and timber frames and of the glazing, static and dynamic studies of wind effects, structural fire resistance analysis, design of the structural nodes, study for assembly and phased construction