Cité du design

The Cité du Design in St. Etienne/France consists on the one hand of existing buildings that are being renovated and converted for their new purpose. A new addition is a large hall-like shell construction, the so-called “Platine”. Werner Sobek was responsible for the planning of the supporting structure and facade for this project.

“La Platine” with Adaptive Building Envelope

It has an innovative outer skin with a minimised, three-dimensional supporting structure. This outer skin adapts as an adaptive building envelope to the changing programmatic requirements of the activities inside. For example, it can change its light transmission and at the same time, as a solar power plant, cover a large part of its own energy needs.

The Cité du Design is located on the site of a listed former arms factory in St. Etienne.