Nautical Centre, Cluses, France

The nautical centre at Cluses, half way between Mont Blanc and Lake Leman, has become famous for the quality of its services. It is tucked away in the heart of the Faucigny in the centre of the Arve valley and near some internationally recognised tourist attractions.

For the construction of the Cluses nautical centre the contracting authority and project manager decided to design an aesthetically pleasing building that would blend into the environment in any season and have an acceptable maintenance cost. Therefore, the proposal for a building that was largely glass, open to the outside and transparent was selected. The intention was for the mountain ranges to be visible through the glass panels and to be reflected in the windows. Located at a high altitude, the building interior needed to be comfortable and the temperature pleasant during both summer and winter. Lastly, the use of glass as the principle material was not to lead to an increase in the maintenance and management costs of the building.

The designers recommended double glazed units comprising Pilkington Activ Suncool™ Neutral 70/40 glass. Pilkington Activ™ offers self-cleaning properties whilst Pilkington Suncool™ provides excellent solar control and this was combined with Pilkington Optilam™ 8.8. The laminated glass panels in Pilkington Optilam™ ensured the safety of guests and staff against injuries in the event of glass breakage.

The glass met all the architect’s requirements of:
- solar protection and thermal insulation: good management of solar radiation in both summer and winter,
- bright light: guaranteed maximum natural light,
- glass panels always clean on the outside.

Pilkington Activ Suncool™ glazing is ideal for fitting to the faces of buildings.

Pilkington Activ Suncool™ can be combined in double glazing with other Pilkington glass panel products to improve noise insulation and safety.