Ductal® 3D facade to be installed on Attijariwafa Bank's regional office – Rabat

The new building will be constructed on Avenue Mohammed 6, one of the city's main arteries. The facade is partially designed with Ductal^® 3D brise-soleil panels, which have been installed this month of November 2017. Since the facade is visible for all to see, it will need to bring the sort of aesthetic appeal that the Group expects, while remaining consistent with the rest of building, and in particular with the Attijariwafa Bank logo.

This new building is part of a larger redevelopment project that seeks to turn the neighborhood into a hub for businesses and services. In order to differentiate it from other buildings in the area that mainly use traditional materials, the Project Owner required that an innovative material be used for the facade of its new regional office.

In order to meet this architectural challenge, the project's design was entrusted to the Moroccan architecture firm, Omar Alaoui de Casablanca. From the beginning, the architect sought to use Ultra-High Performance Fiber-Reinforced Concrete (UHPFRC), whose features and performance are inherently suited to these requirements. As a result, the building stands out with a bold and innovative 3D facade, assembled using a series of geometrically complex Ductal® panels.

This project was made possible thanks to the close collaboration between the project architect and the Ductal® prefabricator, BEARCH. It is through their efforts that this new building manages to tackle aesthetic demands, technical realities and High Environmental Quality (HEQ) concerns, while remaining financially viable.

A Ductal^® 3D facade

The facade serves not only as a building envelope but also as a means of brise-soleil. The pattern is inspired by the Attijariwafa Bank logo. The double-layered facade was designed to be made with three separate lattice screens superimposed over each other. Each of these screens (designated A, B and C, see figure below) is composed of strips of varying widths that form a textured weave while retaining the look and feel of a traditional mashrabiya.

Attajari Wafa Bank Morocco Rabat - Ductal® 3D Façade panel details

This blueprint required a refined, advanced approach when it came to designing and manufacturing the panels. Instead of producing three separate screens that need to be assembled together, which would have required a revision of the facade's design (e.g. panel dimensions, mounting and installation methods, etc.), engineers at BEARCH leveraged their knowledge and the Ductal^® material's features in order to arrive at a particularly apt solution, both technically and financially. The panels directly incorporate the three layers of screens thanks to a three-layer mold design. This innovative and clever mold design, together with the panels' varying thicknesses and elements in relief, allowed the manufacturers to perfectly reproduce the initial aesthetic effect they were going for.

The panels are mounted on the facade via a secondary steel framework using sockets embedded in the Ductal® and steel brackets. They have been installed this month of November 2017.

Attajari Wafa Bank Morocco Rabat - Ductal® 3D Façade panel details

Attajari Wafa Bank Morocco Rabat - Ductal® 3D Façade panel details Bearch

This technical feat was made possible by the expertise of the prefabricator and the wide latitude that Ductal^® offers when it comes to design. As a result, the customized, pre-fabricated components are well in line with the architectural aspirations of the project.

With Ductal^®, builders can play around with textures, colors, shapes and depth to produce a unique design that features complex shapes with light and shadow effects (an impossible result with other, traditional materials).

Ductal^® and energy-efficient buildings

Since the building is HEQ-certified, another major issue for the project was ensuring optimized energy consumption.

As such, the Ductal^® facade and its 3D brise-soleil components were designed to allow sunlight through while controlling light intake, in an effort to improve the building's energy efficiency and adhere to HEQ requirements.

In addition, Ductal^® ensures that the facade exterior will remain durable, resistant, ductile and less porous over the long term. This resilient material is perfectly suited to the building's needs, and allows both aesthetic and technical concerns to be met.