Harsco supports La Philharmonie de Paris construction

Harsco Infrastructure is supporting construction of a new philharmonic hall in Paris, France, by supplying a range of shoring, support and access equipment.

When it opens in September 2014, the Jean Nouvel-designed La Philharmonie de Paris will be the largest auditorium in France dedicated to classical, jazz and world music.

The 2,400 capacity hall will feature a vessel-shaped design, constructed from a double shell of concrete and plaster that is planned to provide outstanding acoustics inside the building.

Harsco’s project services team in France was chosen by lead contractor Bouygues to undertake all the necessary shoring works, support the creation of the slab work and the heavy lifting operations, and deliver associated technical studies for the €218 million project.

Harsco has provided a range of equipment for this €2.6 million contract, including its Aluminium Tower access systems, Tenor working platforms and HP 21 heavy-duty props.

The latter were combined with Harsco’s Infra-kit equipment, which uses a small number of standardised components to enable the creation of tailor-made solutions for many different requirements.

Once complete, the exterior of the building will be covered with an aluminium cladding, which has been designed to incorporate 78,000 interlocking bird shapes.

A 52 m high arch will straddle the entire structure and allow concert footage to be displayed on large screens visible from outside the building. The structure will also include a roof terrace with a panoramic restaurant.