Company:
Taiyo Europe GmbH

Project Details

Fabric 1

ETFE
Producer/Manufacturer: Nowofol GmbH
Primary Use: Main Fabric


Engineer Company 1
MAP3 – Engineering structural Design, France; Taiyo Europe GmbH (ETFE scope)

Architect Company
Agence Duthillieul, France; Atelier d’Architecture Gares & Connexions, France

Fabrication Company
Taiyo Europe GmbH

Subcontractor Company
Taiyo Europe GmbH, Germany

Project Manager Company
Eng. Simone Toso, Taiyo Europe GmbH

Installation Company
Taiyo Europe GmbH


Please describe the project specifications

Originally built in 1857, the Rennes train station over the years became a bottleneck on the French railway infrastructure between the north and the south of the city. Moreover, with the integration of the station to the local underground and the new TGV (High Speed train) systems, the building’s accessibility and design was unsuitable for the envisioned flow of visitors.
Therefore, a full renovation of the station was required. The Architect’s idea was to welcome the travellers with a re-built landscape in order to remind the fog and the arboreal profile that is typical of this area in the French Bretagne region.
So, the trees come alive inside the train station with the steel columns that end with branches made by wooden beams, this in order to support the sinuous and wavy ETFE roof that remember the fog.
The designers created a clear comfortable open-space and they reduced the number of pannels indication in order to give to the visitor the pleasure to find his own “path inside of the forest”. One part of the ETFE cushions is equipped with a movable middle layer system, allowing the variance of the light transmittance through the roof, thus maximizing light transmittance in the winter and bringing to comfortable levels on summer days.
All this, considering the necessity to use sustainable and recyclable materials, this is why steel, wood and ETFE were used.


What is unique or complex about the project?

This project has unique design with complex shapes that required state of the art engineering knowledge of membrane systems in order to make them reality. The roof mix compositions of 2 Layers and 3 Layers cushions, some with incorporated shading variation and control system. All associated to its unique and complex geometry.


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