en.Wedoany.com Reported - Bouygues Bâtiment Ile-de-France Ouvrages Fonctionnels has completed the expansion of Ixcampus in Saint-Germain-en-Laye (78), France. This project is the first to implement the Archisobre method, developed by Bouygues Construction to accelerate the environmental transition of the construction industry. Ixcampus is an innovation-focused campus that brings together higher education institutions, industrial companies, startups, and laboratories within a single ecosystem.
As the first large-scale demonstration project of the Archisobre method, Ixcampus in Saint-Germain-en-Laye aims to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by minimizing energy consumption in new buildings. Taha Ibn Salah, General Manager of Bouygues Bâtiment Ile-de-France Ouvrages Fonctionnels, stated that the project demonstrates how "simplicity" can drive innovation. Archisobre is not a set of constraints but a method to reassess every design decision, integrating only what is truly necessary and useful. In this project, this requirement was reflected in specific choices such as bio-based materials, wooden structures, and the elimination of air conditioning systems, resulting in an overall 8% reduction in carbon emissions. The goal was to achieve energy efficiency levels rarely pursued at this scale.
The Archisobre method developed by Bouygues Construction follows the principle of "building better with less," systematically questioning needs, usage methods, and technical solutions from the design stage to reduce environmental footprint. While reducing resource consumption and carbon emissions, it prioritizes simple architectural choices without compromising quality, performance, or user comfort.
During the design phase, the team applied Archisobre principles by prioritizing bio-based, geo-based, and local materials, replacing some concrete structures with wooden ones, and limiting the use of high-energy-consuming equipment. The project integrated approximately 10,000 square meters of cross-laminated timber (CLT) floor slabs and over 8,000 square meters of wooden frame facades. Bouygues Construction's French wooden structure design office, Wewood, provided support during the optimization and execution phases. The buildings feature a wood-concrete hybrid structure, with Building F using a load-bearing structure made of local stone. The building envelope maximizes energy efficiency through triple-glazed wooden or wood-aluminum windows, sunshades, and passive solutions to reduce heating and cooling needs.
These design decisions significantly reduced the project's carbon footprint: various design optimizations saved 700 tons of CO2 equivalent; replacing air conditioning systems with cooling solutions in Buildings E and A4 saved 383 tons of CO2 equivalent; optimizing the Environmental Product Declarations (EPD) for Building E saved 230 tons of CO2 equivalent; and replacing concrete slabs with wooden floors in Building F saved 187 tons of CO2 equivalent. Overall, carbon emissions per unit of floor area decreased by 8% compared to the initial design. Designed to passive building standards, Ixcampus is expected to reduce energy consumption from 110 kWh/m²/year in the initial design without Archisobre to 93 kWh/m²/year, an improvement of nearly 16%. The project aims to achieve BBCA (Low-Carbon Building) certification.
Designed by Baumschlager Eberle Architects and Studio Same Architects, Ixcampus adopts a new-generation campus model that brings together education, applied research, industry, and technological innovation within a single ecosystem. The campus houses over 50 innovative companies, nearly 1,000 students, and 900 technicians, researchers, and engineers. The expansion, carried out from January 2024 to April 2026 on an operational site, brings the total area of the Saint-Germain-en-Laye campus to nearly 40,000 square meters, dedicated to higher education, research, and innovative enterprises. The project, located on a 7-hectare site including protected woodland, involved the removal of approximately 120,000 tons of earth. Three new buildings were constructed, two existing buildings were raised, and a parking lot with about 100 spaces was built, adding approximately 20,000 square meters of space. The new spaces include laboratories, industrial workshops, classrooms, office areas, an auditorium, and a cafeteria and cross-company restaurant with a capacity of 1,000 people. The project delivery schedule is as follows: construction started in January 2024, the parking lot was delivered in May 2024, Building F in September 2025, Buildings A and B and the outdoor park in December 2025, Buildings A4 and E (excluding laboratories) in January 2026, and the Building E laboratories in May 2026.
