Page 16 - June SRG

16|June 2020
The White Granite That’s Replacing
Carrera Marble is Quarried in Vermont
The Grande Arche de la Défense was completed in 1989 to celebrate the bicentennial of the French Revolution, however, in the years since, there has been little to celebrate: There were issues with the exterior of the arch from nearly the start. The area around the north side was even sealed off after fears that the arch’s Italian Carrara marble exterior would fall on people below. The arch restoration team turned to hard-wearing Polycor BETHEL WHITE® granite to replace the crumbling Carrara marble exte- rior and restore the arch to a place of pride.
The choice of Bethel White granite from the Polycor quarry is being recognized by peers in the industry. Earlier this year, NSI announced that the Grande Arche de la Défense resto- ration received a Grand Pinnacle Award. This recognition is given to the best project across all cat- egories and is a top prize among the highly coveted awards, which are bestowed by the Natural Stone Institute. The Grand Pinnacle is awarded to “projects whose beauty, creativity, ingenuity and craftsmanship exemplifies
professional mastery in the use of natural stone for commercial and residential applications.” An independent panel of judges from both industry and design profes- sions evaluated the entries based on seven project categories.
Located on the edge of Paris, in the business district for which it was named, the Grande Arche de la Défense is one of the “Grande Projects” built during the presi- dency of Francois Mitterand, who wanted his legacy to include im- portant works of architecture that would define France’s modernity and economic strength.
And, though many new proj- ects are controversial, especially ultra-modern ones, the arch was almost universally approved when it went up, as it also showed a modern flair that is at the heart of the French spirit.
The coolly minimalist Grande Arche de la Défense was de- signed by Danish architect Johan Otto von Spreckelen (later, with construction by French architect Paul Andreuand). It looks like a giant door frame that opens on to the world. It is indeed impres- sive—and expansive. It’s a mar- ble and glass 110 meter (361 ft) tall hollow cube that’s big enough
Steven Schrenk
Polycor
to fit Notre-Dame Cathedral in its archway. The strikingly spare structure contains 35 floors of restaurants, office and event spaces. The great expanse of space and stairs at the foot of the arch have become a popular place for office workers to sit and eat their lunch while overlooking Paris.
Only a few years after it was built, the structure of its facade began to deteriorate, with exten- sive cracking and spalling. The building’s concrete frame was covered with 300,000 tons of glass and clad in white Italian Carrara marble. But that stone soon proved to lack the resil- ience needed for its intended
application, succumbing to the effects of climate and acid rain.
A restoration team was put in place and it immediately began scouring the world to find a stone that would withstand extreme temperature swings, while fully respecting the original sleek and gleaming white design.
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Bethel White granite, quarried in Vermont, is flawless in character, grain and purity of color.
The stairs at the foot of the arch have become a popular place for office work- ers to sit and eat their lunch while over- looking Paris.
Right: Only a few years after the Grande Arche de la Défense was built, the white Italian Carrara marble on its facade began to deteriorate.
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