The new Sequano-Dionysian headquarters of the gas operator has a carbon footprint and energy consumption reduced by half compared to a traditional building. Developed by WO2 and Icawood with the architecture agency Valode & Pistre, it was inaugurated on Thursday November 21, 2024, a few days before the official move in of GRDF employees.
Paris is over! GRDF, the manager of the gas distribution network, is preparing to set up shop in Saint-Denis, between rue des bretons and rue… des gazomètres. “You can’t make this up! », admitted Laurence Poirier-Dietz, general director of GRDF, Thursday November 21 during the inauguration of the seven-story building, located a stone's throw from the Stade de France and the RER B.
In 2020, the gas operator had indeed made the decision to leave its historic headquarters on rue Condorcet (Paris 9th arr.) which it had occupied for almost 20 years. “The building was aging, we needed a more functional, ergonomic, energy- and m2-efficient headquarters,” explained Laurence Poirier-Dietz. Wood construction quickly emerged as a solution and, in July 2021, GRDF signed the construction lease for the Saint-Denis project with WO2 and the low-carbon real estate development fund Icawood.
Philippe Zivkovic, co-founder of WO2, Laurence Desmazières, president of Icawood, and Marc Lafont, president of WO2 © Jgp
“For GRDF, it was not just about moving,” said Marc Lafont, president of WO2. There is complementarity between our work as a developer of low-carbon buildings and the strategic shift made by the operator.” The latter intends to reduce its own greenhouse gas emissions by half by 2030 but also to support its customers and partners in changing their habits and their equipment.
GRDF employees will integrate their new offices in December 2024 © Jgp
A carbon footprint and energy consumption halved
Powered by biogas, GRDF's new head office covers 23,500 m2 (compared to 36,000 m2 for its future-former Parisian address) and has a carbon footprint halved over its entire life cycle compared to a conventional building (676 kg of CO2 equivalent per m2 instead of 1,260 t for a traditional building). Energy consumption is also reduced by 50% compared to the maximum threshold set by the tertiary decree 2050.
On the aesthetic side, the building designed by the Valode & Pistre architectural agency offers visible circulation, great light thanks to 2.5 m windows, beautiful volumes with a ceiling height ranging from 3.5 to 5 m , as well as 2,000 m2 of outdoor spaces accessible to each level.
The new head office benefits from large volumes, 2[insec]000 m2 of outdoor spaces, as well as plenty of light © Jgp
While Saint-Denis looked like a winter sports resort this Thursday, November 21, and in front of an audience of guests (including Mayor Mathieu Hanotin), Philippe Zivkovic, co-founder of WO2, described the operation as exemplary by its location, “in the heart of one of the first tertiary markets of 1.4 million m2 (that of Plaine Commune, editor’s note)”, in terms of its pre-marketing “at a time when the market was already very tense, since we were selected among 10 other competing projects”, but also regarding the quality of the spaces offered to the group's employees. “These characteristics are the DNA of our company and the products it produces, ahead of traditional buildings. our offices must be places of exchange, of communication, where life is good. »
For WO2, the delivery of the building marks the end of a 2 and a half year project, but above all “10 years of research and development to achieve this type of innovative building”, specified Marc Lafont. The move in of GRDF teams is scheduled for December 9. A single RER station will then separate them from their former premises in the 9th arrondissement.
Mathieu Hanotin and Laurence Poiriez-Dietz © Jgp
