MOdA - Maison de l’Ordre des Avocats
when
2020
where
Paris, France
architecture
RPBW
interior design
RPBW
UniFor confirms its expertise in producing bespoke furniture with a new, significant project: The Maison de l’Ordre des Avocats (MOdA). Inaugurated in January 2020, the new Parisian lawyers’ Order headquarters is an integral part of the urban landmark of the Cité Judiciaire court complex, situated in the 17th arrondissement and entirely designed by the Renzo Piano Building Workshop.
Transparency, functionality and independence are the three inspiring principles underpinning the project.
The MOdA building is completely transparent – just as the institutions which represent Justice should be - and it is located next to the Courthouse; it recalls its shape in a complementary fashion, while remaining proudly independent from it, a clear, separate entity, like the two institutions they represent.
The Maison des Avocats establishes its personality also with extraordinary technical prowess. It stretches up over several storeys above the crossing of two metro lines, with just 400 m2 of land available for its foundations. RPBW therefore opted for a structure suspended over five resting points upon which the metallic framework from the third to the eighth floor lies. Concrete, aluminium and glass are the materials used.
Inside too, MOdA is packed with bold structural choices. The ceilings are unrefined and sophisticated in equal measures, and the exposed concrete is functional to the aesthetics. The same applies for the internal wooden structures, the height of which reaches up to six metres.
Indeed, wood is the exact material picked for the large double-sided bookcase: the “Mur de livres”. An iconic design by RPBW and a model that can also be found at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation in Athens and in the Studio RPBW in Paris and which UniFor produced in an entirely bespoke version. 30 metres long and boasting two tiers, this impressive oak-wood bookcase is also designed to replicate the structure of the building symbolically: transparent, functional and independent. This confirms, once again, UniFor’s outstanding expertise in extending the architectural design to the interior design as well.
In addition to the bookcase, also designed by RPBW, UniFor produced the large reception table, measuring 5 metres in length and with an oak-wood frame and a Staron top, a sturdy and hard-wearing material, yet one which is concurrently extremely malleable and comprising solid slabs and parts made up of mineral substances, free of styrene and bonded with acrylic.
These are also supplemented by the two “Bulles de confidencialité”, in other words Confidential Meeting Rooms. These glazed cubicles are where sensitive information is discussed and so they were entirely made with UniFor’s partition system RP: 2.35 m high, produced with extra clear double glazing and lacquered aluminium profiles. A partition featuring a fixed curtain was installed between the 2 cubicles. Each cubicle is fitted with a sliding door.
UniFor products:
- Bespoke double-sided bookcase: “Mur de livres”. Dimensions: 30 m x H on two tiers, at 2.516 m and 2.154 m. Oak veneered finish.
- Bespoke reception table. Oak veneered table and Staron veneered tops. Dimensions: 5.415 x 1.200 x 1.050 m
- “Bulles de confidencialité” - Confidentiality Cubicles - RP Partition Two glazed H2350 cubicles comprising: extra clear double glazing - RAL 9010 lacquered profiles. NCS S 1010 R80B front fixing profiles. Between the 2 cubicles: partition featuring a fixed fabric curtain. 2 sliding glass doors with DLIne H700 handle
