Paris Law Courts

Paris - France
Paris Law Courts
New
Special structure
Envelopes
Commercial & Offices
Steel / Stainless Steel
Aluminium
Glass
Date
2010 - 2017
Client
Arelia (Bouygues PPP)
Architect
Renzo Piano Building Workshop
RFR’s assignments

RFR's scope includes the design of all of the façades (approximately 70,000 m²) and the special structures such as: the panoramic lift, the photovoltaic solar panels fixed to the façades, their extension as wing-walls, the entrance canopy and the poles elongating the building volumes, giving depth and emphasizing the building volumes and relief.

Floor area
100 000 m²
Façade area
65 000 m²
Description
The façades are designed to maximise transparency in the real and symbolic senses, while meeting a number of ambitious environmental objectives (solar factor, light transmittance, thermal transmittance, etc.) and incorporating stringent noise-reduction measures made necessary by the building’s location close to the city’s busy ring road (Périphérique). To meet these requirements, most of the façades consist of an externally ventilated thin double-skin design comprising external laminated glass panels followed by internal double-glazed opening windows to enhance user comfort. The concourse façade consists of double-glazed panels held by 12m tall vertical stiffeners.
The photovoltaic panels, canopies, panoramic lift, glasshouse louvres, poles and steel-framed glass wing walls contribute to the architectural and technical design of the façades.
Vertical cross-section of photovoltaic panels
Paris Law Courts, south façade
Paris Law Courts, north façade from Clichy
Paris Law Courts, south and west façades
Paris Law Courts, detail of glasshouses on east façade
Paris Law Courts, axonometric drawing of the panoramic lift
Paris Law Courts, middle and upper sections of the high-rise building
Paris Law Courts, view from Clichy
Paris Law Courts, detail of south/east corner
Paris Law Courts, detail of projection at top of west façade, level 39
Paris Law Courts, detail of a photovoltaic panel on the panoramic lift
Paris Law Courts, detail of the 'Wasp Waist' and 'Marilyn' façades, terrace on level 8
Paris Law Courts, detail of the panoramic lift
Paris Law Courts, lower section of the high-rise building from the terrace on level 8

The Paris Law Courts complex consists of several distinct buildings. 
The 'Socle' (podium), which is open to the public, houses the public reception facilities and the 90 courtrooms. The 'Bastion', adjoining it, will comprise logistics and secure detention facilities, as well as offices. Above the "Socle" and reaching a total height of 160m, a high-rise building consisting of three superimposed blocks of decreasing length will mainly accommodate the work spaces of the public servants and magistrates based at the court of Paris. The tower is narrow - with a breadth of approximately 22m - and 160m tall.