The building of the Social Sciences and Humanities Laboratory, named after the sociologist Max Weber, is located on the vast campus of the University of Paris X - Nanterre. Most of the buildings on the campus are constructed of metal and concrete and can serve as an illustration of the history of French architecture from the 1960s to the present, if desired.
Max Weber's laboratory differs from the surrounding buildings not only externally - simplicity of volume - but also "energy-saving contents": the laboratory is built almost entirely of wood, equipped with a passive ventilation system that works both in warm and cold seasons, and a key source of illumination large windows serve.
The original ventilation system is clearly visible even from the ground: on the roof there are 25 "sculpted" aluminum chimneys with a height of 3.6 meters, which provide air outflow.
The architects of Atelier Pascal Gontie chose the wood primarily for environmental reasons. Wood is a renewable material, recyclable and also reduces
carbon footprint. Throughout its life cycle, the tree absorbs carbon, which then, when using the plant as a building material, is "locked" in the building.
Five-storey building with an area of 5000 m2 has wooden structural elements; elevator shafts and staircases are made of laminated glued wood.
The interior of the research laboratory has a flexible structure. The rows of offices are made up of Kerto Ripa box-shaped load-bearing panels, pre-assembled at the factory and then delivered to the site. Such panels make it possible in the future to quite easily transform and re-profile the premises. Depending on the needs, you can make a large or a small room, the final area is limited only by a "step" of 16m2 - this is exactly the amount of space that one "box" takes.
In order to carry out engineering networks and lighting in the building, the architects had to leave 30-centimeter pockets on the ceiling, which are located every 3.5 meters.
