Six Degrés in Gentilly, France, is a 39,000 m² mixed-use office-led building 20 minutes south of the heart of Paris.

This low-carbon campus combines offices, shops, an amphitheatre, nursery, gym, and car park. It can accommodate 2,900 people in three buildings linked together by footbridges and 10,000 m² of tree-lined terraces.

Instead of using conventional steel and concrete that generate high amounts of climate-heating emissions, SCOR, Bouygues Bâtiment Ile-de-France and the architects have combined their skills to meet France's stringent environmental standards with:

-Engineered wood in the superstructure. The cross-laminated timber (CLT) only generated 225 tonnes of greenhouse gases to manufacture. This alone avoided 4,888 tonnes of greenhouse gases. (Source Stora Enso Carbon Calculator).

-Low-carbon concrete in infrastructure and foundations, which generates fewer emissions compared to traditional concrete

-Algae-based paints

-Circular economy on various architectural finishing materials

-Façade in tinted prefabricated concrete

Construction

Constructed over the course of several years (the architectural competition was in 2016, and it was completed in May 2024), the complex was designed by the duo of architectural agencies Hardel Le Bihan Architects and Alain Barthe Architects and Niez Studio for the landscaping.

The use of off-site prefabrication, both for the structural parts (glued laminated timber (GLT) posts and beams, CLT slabs and floors (4,396 m³ of Sylva CLT Floors, Roofs, and Walls elements, laminated veneer lumber (LVL) cover boards, concrete façade, and for the technical parts (pipework in the technical and distribution rooms, terminal regulation), has enabled waste to be reduced by 70% and work schedules to be optimised, in some cases halved according to Bouygues.

This project also took advantage of Stora Enso's Sylva Service that preapplied insecticide and end grain sealer and preinserted lifting devices in their mills under factory controlled conditions so when the elements arrive on-site, they are ready to install immediately.

Insights from architects on using prefabricated mass timber

Alain Barthe, one of the architects reflecting on the project and using mass timber, said, "I had never worked with Stora Enso before, but its impressive production capacity was perfectly suited to this operation. This was a very complicated project that spanned several years, and it was necessary to find a company that could secure the flow of wood and the quality."

Cyrille Le Bihan and Mathurin Hardel, architects talking about the project, said, "the technical richness and low-carbon ambitions of the Six Degrés project lie in the fact that it combines the use of mass timber for the structure, prefabricated concrete for the façade, and the reuse of many of the building's ancillary elements."

Certifications and environmental badges targeted:

-HQE Excellent level

-BREEAM Excellent Level

-OSMOZ Lever Frame

-E+/C- profile E2C1

-BBCA (Low Carbon Building)

-Bio-based Level 2

-BiodiverCity

-WiredScore GOLD level

The Sylva kit will play a significant role in achieving these ambitious labels.

Key Facts:

39,000 m² offices and associated services

1,175 m² ground floor agora 

1,035 m² business centre

28,280 m² offices that can accommodate 2,949 people in R+6

435 m² conference room with seating capacity for 190 people

443 m² fitness space for 80 people

415 m² nursery with a capacity of 25 cots

900 m² shops (3 independent shops)

Access hall to the Grand Paris metro Line 14

Learn more about the advantages with mass timber

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Livre blanc Les 10 avantages de la construction en bois massif