Zoom-in on a profession: discover portraits of those who helped building the BPCE Towers
BIM MANAGEMENT
“I’m in charge of Building Information Modeling (BIM) in the Artelia group, I spend my time on this working method devoted to building management and exchange of related information based on digital representations of physical places and databases. From 2014 to 2022, this approach enabled us to create the digital replica of the Duo Towers and to inject it with data during all the different phases of the project, from initial design to delivery of the final implementation file, including execution.
This method is collaborative above all: we create an environment conducive to exchanges with all the different actors involved in order to build the replica and include the construction elements in the form of 3D objects with specific properties. One of the types of uses enabled by the creation of this replica is the coordination and visualization of potential interferences, a function that has proved to be a major asset given the sheer complexity of the project. With the ever greater use of data, BIM is a widely used process with a promising future.”
Amine Dellagi
Head of the BIM Department at Artelia Bâtiments Île-de-France
HIGH VOLTAGE INTERFACE
“We were responsible for commissioning the BPCE Towers. It’s an extremely wide-ranging assignment that forces us to find a balance between contradictory requirements involving, as it does, the commissioning of the technical installations for heating, air conditioning and electricity, as well as managing the building’s technical services… without forgetting the cooking equipment in the kitchen, the carrying out of regulatory controls, and the cleaning of the premises. It’s a long-term collaborative effort with the purchasing department for the launch of invitations for tender, the construction workers in the trading rooms, the WELL teams on the future development of services, and all the Workplace teams. Maintenance and monitoring of the installations are essential to keep the facilities working and to adapt them so that the people using the building can work in the best possible conditions.”
Jean Christophe Forestier
Operation & Technical Maintenance of Buildings, Workplace teams, Groupe BPCE
WORKING IN THE SHADOWS
“I was involved in setting up all the connected networks in the BPCE Towers, from the technical premises all the way up to the terminal equipment. To give you an idea, this work represents up to 30,000 connections used for the Wi-Fi bandwidth, conference rooms, computer docks, smart TV screens, cash registers in the company restaurants, without forgetting all the connected objects such as fridges, coffee machines, people-counting sensors, etc. My greatest pride is that I remain in the shadows when carrying out all these operations: the less we’re talked about, the more it means that the tools we’ve set up are working flawlessly.”
Michel Peden
Head of Telecom and IT Network Infrastructure Operations, Workplace teams, Groupe BPCE
INTERIOR FITTER
“Working closely with our service providers and the different people involved in the towers, I was responsible for coordinating the furniture fittings and the gradual ‘moving into the premises’ operations. I was also in charge of setting up the building’s internal signage system. It was quite a challenge to respect the deadlines in the Real Estate Master Plan and to ensure that the employees had access to high-quality fittings and fixtures. The furniture was delivered at night and assembled during the day. Things then became a veritable beehive of activity as we went up and down the different floors checking their conformity with the plans: our people covered a lot of kilometers!”
Brigitte Armand
Responsible for Fittings and Transfers, Workplace teams, Groupe BPCE
COMMUTING PLAYER
“I spent most of my career abroad, including 13 years in New York working on high-rise buildings. One striking thing about the BPCE Towers project is the cultural difference when it comes to examining the question of how people move about in the building. Vertical communication is not very common in France: commuting within the building, i.e. movements requiring the use of two different sets of lifts, requires specific support to ensure that employee experience is optimized and they can feel at ease in their inter-floor movements on a daily basis.”
Florent Soland
Deputy Head, Workplace, and Head of Real Estate Services, Groupe BPCE
3.0 FITTER
“I like to use the following image when describing our work. The BPCE Towers were delivered to us empty. If you take one of the towers in your hand and turn it over, everything that falls out is what we put in it: IT systems, furniture, office equipment, etc.”
Hervé Buffard
Director of Major Real Estate Programs, Workplace, Groupe BPCE
