European Parliament

Project: European Parliament
Location/Country: Strasbourg, France
Architect: Architecture Studio Europe | Paris, France
Contracting authority: SERS, Strasbourg
Processor: LAUBEUF, Paris
Year of Construction: 1997–1998
Material: 7000 m2 ALUCOBOND® 4 mm
Colour Surface: custom colour PVDF

Europe’s Crown

Since 1992, the Seat of the European Parliament has been in Strasbourg. The City of Strasbourg and SERS, as joint developers, wanted to create a monument which symbolises prestige where decisions on the fate of some 370 million Europeans were made in Strasbourg. From a competition the plans of Architecture Studio Europe emerged as winners. They included a tower of 72 metres in height and 93 metres in diameter and a crescent-shaped building with connecting passages. Based on the smooth surfaces of the panels, the available colours and the extraordinary high gloss of 80% offered by Alusuisse Singen (now 3A Composites), ALUCOBOND® was chosen for the cladding of the sails which form the crown of the building. The installation took place at heights of 20 to 72 metres – a most challenging task for the contracting company. For the 1600 cladding elements in the size 3330 x 1200 mm, 7000 m² of ALUCOBOND®, 15 tons of aluminium profiles and 10 000 bolts were used. In the crescent-shaped building, where parliament sessions take place, some 6000 m² of ALUCOBOND® was used for the ceilings, and silver metallic ALUCOBOND® cladding with a 30% gloss was used for the passages. The ALUCOBOND® cladding of the crown creates a trendsetting architectural style which surely brings the future to the present day.