ArcelorMittal’s latest specialist steel products have been used in a major city renovation project in Saint Nazaire, western France.
Aluzinc®, part of ArcelorMittal’s aesthetic range of flat carbon steel sheets, has been used in the city’s Météor towers, which are home to local and regional government.
At almost 28m in height and clad in ArcelorMittal’s Aluzinc® Florelis, the two seven-storey towers form a symbolic gateway, creating a landmark for the regeneration of the 100,000m2 Villes-Gare area. Our Aluzinc® products have a metallic coating made of 55% aluminium, 43.4% zinc and 1.6% silicon alloy.
This range of steels offer exceptional corrosion resistance, high thermal reflectivity and are aesthetically appealing due to their smooth appearance.
“We chose Aluzinc® Florelis because it is a material that plays subtly with the light as it changes through the day, and the season,” explains architect Jean-Claude Pondevie.
Aluzinc® Florelis offers a one-of-a-kind finish which is specifically tailored for modern facades. The product contains between 1,000 and 1,800 ‘spangles’ per square decimetre. A spangle is a snowflake or a six-fold star pattern, visible to the naked eye, that is used to define the surface appearance of a hot-dip galvanized steel sheet, and is often associated with zinc production. Rarely used in aluminium zinc blend coatings, the spangles are the main reason why the architects specifically requested the product for the Météor towers.
The look of Aluzinc® Florelis comes from the hot dip galvanising and alloy combination, which will help it withstand the corrosive maritime environment in Saint Nazaire.
