The City of Paris appointed Dominique Marrec of ECDM with the design of the Pierre Budin Day Nursery in the 18th district of Paris, France. The prefabricated Ductal® panels are used as siding and will provide watertightness for the façade in front of the building’s exterior insulation. The south façade is devoid of openings for soundproofing purposes with regard to Rue Poissonnière. The low-energy building at the corner of Rue Poissonnière and Rue Budin has a façade which covers 520 m2; is vertically and horizontally wavy and made entirely of white titanium Ductal® with organic fibres.

All slabs are double-curved. Two bottom moulds are fabricated for pouring the rectangular stretcher slabs, which are 2.07 m x 3.72 m. Connecting angles assure façade continuity on three sides. Those moulds permit form variation and create the façade movement. Polystyrene counter moulds work as permanent forms and are an integral part of the façade’s water tightness system. There are also blockouts in the moulds in accordance with the assembly sketch for the façade’s openings.

The hollow centres of the slabs are insulated; that will be complemented by an additional 5 cm in thickness mounted to the structure and crossing the mounting brackets. On the slabs’ thick edges, sockets are sunk and attached to angle irons connected to the building’s concrete wall. Slab/façade watertightness is developed with rubber gaskets wedged between the slabs for thermal expansion. For proper slab alignment to the complex geometry, guide rails are used to install them.