Skip to main content

Paris Fire Brigade Barracks

  • Project management
    Paris Police Prefecture (Operation Manager), Paris Fire Brigade (Users)
  • Subject mastery
    Bulle, Poirier & Justman architects (Architect in charge), EPDC (BET TCE), MEBI (Economist), EPDC (Acoustician), IETI (Environment)
  • Photographs
    ©Hervé ABBADIE

Work carried out with

The materials used are technical products and must be installed according to professional standards. We recommend that the installation be carried out by a professional.

Dating from the 1930s, the Bourg-la-Reine barracks was rebuilt and expanded to meet the brigade's current needs. Located on the edge of the city center, it respects the typology of the neighborhoods it adjoins, with a compact street frontage on R+3 facing a boulevard equipped with several public facilities and, in the depth of the plot, a R+1 building in harmony with the residential sector which surrounds it. On the boulevard side, where the exits take place, the building groups together the barracks' activity and storage premises, the firefighters' accommodation and the offices. Along the central exercise yard, it lowers to house the gymnasium and is closed by the instruction tower. At the back of the plot, the R+1 houses the rest and dining areas. This "domino" organization makes it possible to limit nuisances to residents of the residential area and to ensure the confidentiality and security of the barracks' activities.

The constructive choices of the project

The diversity of wood solutions made it possible to respond to the different configurations of the fire station buildings with great constructive efficiency, while providing maximum comfort to the firefighters' lives. Beyond its structural role, Kerto® LVL, which lightly covers the facades, helped to nourish our inspiration to propose a new and unique vision of a technical building, in osmosis with its urban environment.

Fabienne Bulle, project architect

The reconstruction is part of a high environmental requirement. It relies in particular on the reuse of the original stones (which cover the new foundations) and on a wide use of wood, which makes up the superstructures of the buildings and has made it possible to face the constraints of a construction site on an occupied site, with little storage space for materials. Kerto® LVL laminated veneer lumber plays a key role in the construction choices of the project: it constitutes the frame portals as well as the roof boxes in the form of Kerto® Ripa ribbed panels, prefabricated to measure and installed immediately after their delivery using a tower crane. It is accompanied by CLT floors. Kerto® LVL also covers the facades, through sunshade grilles and fins, protected by zinc on the edges. With its great rigidity, it helps to give finesse to the architectural style of the structure.

Excerpt from the ISB Book Prescription, to be published in May 2025

The Kerto® LVL structural solution

Among the strongest engineered wood products, Kerto® LVL has a ratio exceptional weight / mechanical performance. Combining material savings, finesse and great dimensional stability, it is suitable for many uses:

  • Load-bearing beams for walls or floors, for which it allows slender shapes
  • Structural and structural reinforcement parts
  • Kerto® Ripa prefabricated panels for roof and floor boxes ensuring large spans and low thickness