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Abstract
The large building complex making up the Émile Cohl Art School integrates innovative, lightweight structures with both the existing historic columns and the riveted lattice girders which support the saw-tooth roof of the former Renault factory, built in 1899. The roof above the central hall is a multi-span suspension structure. Two steel ribbons, supported by fan-shaped steel struts and anchored on both ends, give an undulating shape to the roof. Wooden box elements span the entire 12 m between the steel ribbons. The rectangular sections are made of a planar Kerto® wooden assembly, fixed onto the curved steel ribbons thanks to custom-fabricated intermediate wooden connections. This is a highly efficient way to cover the hall—using only one type of repeating surface element and minimizing the assembly procedure while giving the roof an elegant wave shape. The steel structure rests on a concrete portal frame, a new element which helps to stiffen the old existing roof structure, including the weak, outer clinker wall. Small-diameter injection piles constitute the new foundation of the hall. Translucent glass façades on the longitudinal sides of the building and a stick-frame transparent glass façade at the main entrance enclose the structure.