PROJECT DETAILS
In Lyon, the S-ONE Building Pushes the Limits with the New WICLINE 65 Framed Sash System
A flagship of urban transformation in Lyon’s 9th arrondissement, the S-One office building stands at the corner of Rue Marietton and Avenue Sidoine Apollinaire, occupying a strategic location between Vaise and Gorge de Loup. Delivered in May 2022, the building replaces an ageing auction house and represents the regeneration of the local urban fabric. The challenge: how to build next-generation, flexible office spaces on a constrained, prow-shaped site bordered by the Planche stream, while fully harnessing the unique environment?
Developed by Groupe Carré d’Or, the SOHO-designed project responds with a compact office building that draws on the industrial codes of the area’s architectural heritage. “We wanted to engage harmoniously with the site and its context,” explains Patrick Miton, partner architect and urban planner at SOHO. “That’s why we chose to reinterpret a shed roof and use an industrial architectural language with a steel/glass/metal approach that reaches out to the site’s history.”
Covering 3,246 m² across five storeys and two basement levels, S-One offers 67 parking spaces (12 of which are equipped for electric vehicles), a bike storage area, a welcoming ground floor reception space, and four upper levels of 650 m² flexible floorplates. Roof terraces, a rear garden, and glazed sheds on the top floor all contribute to a design that interacts seamlessly with both the city and the adjacent stream.
Design Challenges
The rear stream imposed a regulatory setback requirement of at least eight metres, prompting a bold architectural response. The architects opted to set back the basement and ground floor while maximising the usable space on the upper levels. This led to a four-storey rectangular structure featuring an impressive eight-metre triangular cantilever. This feat was made possible by an expressive concrete structure with four diagonal cross-braces on levels 1 and 2, visible on the north façade and extending to the east. “This structural display required in-depth engineering studies,” says Patrick Miton, “and it allowed us to support the cantilever without beams or columns, maintaining a clean volumetric aesthetic—especially underneath.” The soffit of the cantilever is clad in polished mirror panels that reflect the garden and stream below.
Façade Strategy and Prefabrication
The design of the façades and windows quickly led the project team to WICONA’s frame façade system for the building’s main east and west elevations. “Our goal, in agreement with the developer, was to fabricate prefabricated modules off-site, deliver them complete to the construction site, and install them directly onto the building structure—with the innovative approach that each module would be fully finished both inside and out,” explains Patrick Miton.
To realise this, Groupe Carré d’Or brought in metalwork firm Lenoir Métallerie early in the project to define the most suitable technical solution from the outset of the execution phase.
To add dynamism and rhythm to the façade, SOHO architects and Lenoir Métallerie developed eight unique module variations. This required a significant design and production effort from Lenoir Métallerie using WICONA’s systems.
Façade Modules
“The uniqueness of the project lies in the façade frame layout, which served a dual purpose,” explains Antoine Noyel, Deputy Managing Director at Lenoir Métallerie. “Firstly, it creates the impression of movement from the street, like a kaleidoscope of dynamically arranged modules; secondly, it gives the illusion that the building’s load-bearing structure is external, showcasing only decorative aluminium cladding elements to recreate a sculptural façade pattern.”
To achieve this, the team opted for the WICONA WICTEC EL element façade system and developed a frame sash system based on the WICLINE 65 window. A total of 110 modules were produced in the workshop, covering 1,050 m² of façade in eight different designs. Each unit consists of three to five filling elements (transparent or opaque), including: full-height vision sashes, decorative metal panels, opaque spandrels, and full-height windows made up of a transparent fixed lower panel, a WICLINE 65HI hidden-sash double-glazed window, and a fixed top panel.
The 250 mm deep system also integrates internal blinds and 200 mm thick rock wool insulation boxes. Among the eight module designs, two are trapezoidal in shape to fit into the shed roofline. For these, WICONA developed two custom profiles. The system delivers excellent thermal and acoustic performance, with Ucw values ranging from 0.98 to 1.40 W/m²K depending on the module type, tested with Ug 1.0 glazing and aluminium spacers.
The north façade features a WICTEC 50 curtain wall measuring 19 metres long and 13 metres high. For the shed roof, Lenoir Métallerie installed insulated frames and WICLINE 65 windows (with hidden sashes) as a continuous ribbon along the south side.
Architectural Ambition Meets Site Constraints
The resulting design embraces the irregular geometry of the site while showcasing light-filled office spaces within an expressive shell.
Time Savings
The key advantage of WICONA’s frame sash system for the developer Groupe Carré d’Or, the architect, and Antoine Noyel lies in the time savings during installation, alongside the high quality enabled by workshop prefabrication: no rain or dust to affect the modules, and full control over scheduling. Fabrication took place in parallel with the main structural works. Measuring H 2,700 x L 3,500 mm—the height of one storey—each 9 m² module was delivered ready to install, hoisted into place via tower crane and secured using special hang-type brackets accommodating ±10 mm tolerances.
Following six months of planning and four months of prefabrication, installation was completed in summer 2021 within just a few days—at a rate of 130 m² of façade per day.
Certified BREEAM Very Good, the S-One building has been fully let since its completion.
