VINCI and Le Corbusier

5 August 2016 - Events - France

UNESCO recently added 17 schemes by Franco-Swiss architect Charles-Edouard Jeanneret-Gris – better known as Le Corbusier – to their list of World Heritage Sites. Here, we take a look at those three that VINCI’s teams have been involved with: the Firminy Unité d’Habitation, the Cité Radieuse in Marseille and the Cité de Refuge in Paris’s 13th Arrondissement.

The first Le Corbusier project VINCI had the chance to work on was his Firminy Unité d’Habitation in the Loire region, built in 1960.

Teams from Freyssinet were responsible for overhauling the building’s external concrete, undertaking repairs and remedial removal of deteriorated concrete, as well as instituting preventive measures in the most fragile areas.

The second Le Corbusier scheme Freyssinet was involved in was the Cité Radieuse in Marseille, built between 1947 and 1952 to house around 1,600 residents in 360 duplex apartments.

The bulk of the project consisted of rehabilitating areas affected by a severe fire in 2012, and included partial restoration of the west facade, the common areas, and 12 apartments that had suffered significant damage.

Le Corbusier’s Cité de Refuge was designed in 1933 for the Salvation Army, and has recently undergone extensive renovation under the aegis of VINCI Construction France (Bateg and Sicra).

The project involved the remodelling of dormitories and sanitary facilities, reorganising the communal areas and creating new single rooms, as well as removing and restoring the façades of the neighbouring Centre Espoir reception building.