Bouygues Construction launches work on the French national Archives at Pierrefitte-sur-Seine
On 11 September 2009, the French Prime Minister, François Fillon, laid the foundation stone of the new French National Archives centre at Pierrefitte-sur-Seine, in the suburbs of Paris. The ceremony, also attended by Frédéric Mitterrand, the French Minister of Culture and Communication, and Philippe Fabié, Chairman and CEO of Bouygues Bâtiment Ile-de-France, marks the launch of this highly prestigious project. The contract, which is worth 112 million euros (of which the Group's share is 104 million euros), was awarded to Bouygues Bâtiment Ile-de-France by EMOC, the cultural public works contracting authority (1).
Designed by the Massimiliano Fuksas architectural practice and the Betom engineering office, the new complex will house all the archives on a single site (they are currently spread over a number of different locations). The project will solve the problem of limited storage capacity in the current buildings.
The new 60,000 m2 complex will consist of two hubs:
• An 11-storey building housing the document storage facilities.
• Six separate five-storey buildings, which will primarily contain offices and exhibition spaces. The pods will be linked to the main building by walkways.
The new premises will be capable of housing 320 km of shelves. To within a few kilometres, that is equivalent to the distance between Paris and Rennes (in Brittany).
Because of the fragility of the documents that will be conserved, the buildings will be equipped with highly advanced systems for humidity control, air pollution, temperature control and fire resistance.
Works are scheduled to last two-and-a-half years (31 months), with the centre due to open early in 2012. 500 people will be working on the project at peak periods. A significant employment opportunities programme will be launched in conjunction with the project.
Bouygues Construction has significant expertise in cultural facilities. In particular, the Group is responsible for building the Bibliothèque de France (1994) and the Orne Departmental Archives in Alençon (2007) as well as renovating several wings of the Louvre (between 1990 and 1997). The Group recently signed a contract to build the Nord Departmental Archives in Lille.
(1) This authority contracts on behalf of the National Archives, part of the Ministry of Culture and Communication.
