As the centre in Romanieu in the Isère department no longer met its needs, VINCI Construction set up a new 6,700 m2 centre in the Plaine de l’Ain industrial park – in Saint-Vulbas, eastern France – to train 3,800 people per year.
A showcase for VINCI Construction’s environmental practices and expertise
The project, designed by R2A Architecture, was conceived from day one as a showcase for VINCI Construction in many ways – first, in terms of its emphasis on innovation, energy efficiency and, more generally, responsible and sustainable environmental practices and, second, in terms of its ability to drive collaboration between several VINCI Group subsidiaries and demonstrate their respective areas of expertise.
ADIM Lyon was responsible for property development, Novelige for a variety of work, including earthworks carried out in collaboration with Sogea Rhône-Alpes, Arbonis for the timber framework, Citinea for the concrete sections, Tarare Bois for the internal partition finishes and furniture and, lastly, Sixense Groupe for the acoustic assessment and related measures. A partnership was established with VINCI Energies’ environmental engineering subsidiary Green Affair to ensure the project would achieve a “Very Good” BREEAM rating.
Project
The CESAME training centre in Saint-Vulbas
Project owner
VINCI Construction
Project manager
Novelige, Citinea
Time frame
July 2021 – April 2022
Location
Saint-Vulbas, eastern France
An entire training facility built using ultra-low-carbon concrete
The use of Exegy® concrete to build the entire technical training facility is one of the many innovative features of this project. In total, 300 m3 of concrete, including 225 m3 of Exegy® ULTRA, was used, helping avoid 39 tonnes of CO2. The Exegy® solutions deployed can be considered from several perspectives. First, the concrete mix, based on the alkali‑activated binder ECOCEM Ultra, was designed through close collaboration between VINCI Construction’s partner Béton des Monts du Lyonnais, the VINCI Construction materials laboratory, the concrete department of the engineering and building delegations for the Centre-Est region, as well as ECOCEM. Second, this mix was notably used for the vertical walls, which were set using PERI heated formwork imported from Finland, as Exegy® concrete requires higher setting temperatures than traditional concrete.
The teams at Citinea also proved it was possible to build an entire ultra-low-carbon concrete building, the first to feature a balcony.
0%
classic
0%
low carbon
25%
very low carbon
75%
ultra low carbon
300
Volume of EXEGY® concrete in cu. metres
-58 %
Reduction of CO2*
39
Tonnes CO2 equivalent avoided
*compared to an equivalent traditional concrete solution (Type CEM II A)
