The historic Cité Argentine in Paris has undergone a remarkable renovation, combining heritage architecture with modern fire‑safe glazing solutions. The project features Pilkington Pyroclear® Plus and Pyrostop® fire-resistant glass, ensuring safety, thermal comfort and beautifully diffused natural light under the building’s iconic glass roof.
The Cité Argentine takes its name from the nationality of the project’s original sponsor, the Argentine businessman Felipe Mayol de Senillosa, who was based in Paris. Designed by architects Henri Sauvage and Charles Sarazin and built between 1904 and 1907, the building’s main façade stands out in this rather traditional Paris neighbourhood with its ochre-coloured bricks and Art Nouveau-inspired metal frames.
Reminiscent of 19th-century Parisian covered passages, the building houses a shopping arcade on the first two floors, which are overlooked by around thirty apartments. A huge glass roof, supported by a metal structure, covers the arcade.
Acquired by Paris Habitat in 2013 and listed as a historic monument in 2019, the renovation of the Cité Argentine was entrusted to architectural duo Denis Bernard and Laurent Hudon of DBLH. One of the main tasks was to bring the shopping centre and residential complex into compliance with fire safety standards, particularly with regard to protecting the external walkways leading to the duplex apartments on the top floor, located on either side of the main glass roof.
The historic roofs were replaced with EW 30-1/2H flame-retardant structures incorporating Pilkington Pyroclear® Plus 30-402 glass, installed in steel canopies from the Jansen VISS Fire range. In the event of a fire breaking out in the shopping arcade, these structures will prevent the flames from spreading to the upper floors, providing occupants with time to evacuate and allowing the emergency services to respond.
Pilkington Pyroclear® Plus 30-402 double glazing consists of toughened glass with a reflective coating on the outside and laminated safety glass on the inside. In addition to its fire resistance, it ensures thermal comfort inside the shopping centre with its low-emissivity and solar control coating. For this project, the laminated glass incorporates opalescent films that allow diffused natural light to enter while preserving privacy from the upper walkways.
This safety glazing can withstand a soft body impact of 1200 joules, preventing any risk of falling through the glass roof during maintenance work.
Access to the upper walkways from the gallery stairs is secured by EI 30 fire doors (half-hour fire rating) adjacent to EI 60 fire partitions (one-hour fire rating) with rounded and trapezoidal shapes in the event of a fire. These assemblies are glazed with Pilkington Pyrostop®, fire-resistant glass with intumescent spacers, assembled in double glazing with laminated glass with opalescent films from the Pilkington Optilam™ I range.