Hong Kong - Taiwan VMZINC HK (*) Tel.: + 852 2700 2260 [email protected] www.vmzincasia.com INDIA VMZINC India Pvt Ltd (*) Tel.: + 91 22 6627 5656 [email protected] www.vmzinc.in AUSTRALIA/NEW ZEALAND VMZINC Oceania (*) Tel.: + 61 2 93 58 61 00 [email protected] www.vmzinc.com.au www.vmzinc.co.nz Shanghai VM BUILDING SOLUTIONS Tel.: + 86 21 5876 9671 [email protected] www.vmzincasia.com ITALY VM BUILDING SOLUTIONS Italy Tel.: + 39 02 47 99 821 [email protected] www.vmzinc.it SOUTH KOREA SUNNIE INTERNATIONAL Ltd. Tel.: + 82 2-3141-4774 [email protected] www.sunnie.kr CZECH REPUBLIC VM BUILDING SOLUTIONS CZ s.r.o. Tel.: + 420 725 688 262 [email protected] www.vmzinc.cz JAPAN Umicore Japan KK Tel.: + 81 3 6685 3149 [email protected] www.vmzinc.jp SPAIN VM BUILDING SOLUTIONS Iberica s.l. Tel.: + 34 93 298 88 80 [email protected] www.vmzinc.es DENMARK/NORWAY/SWEDEN VM BUILDING SOLUTIONS Scandinavia A/S Tel.: + 45 86 84 80 05 [email protected] www.vmzinc.dk www.vmzinc.se www.vmzinc.no LEBANON NAGGIAR Trading S.A.L. Tel.: + 961 1 562 652 [email protected] www.naggiar.net SWITZERLAND VM BUILDING SOLUTIONS Schweiz AG Tel.: + 41 317475868 [email protected] www.vmzinc.ch MIDDLE EAST/NORTH AFRICA VM BUILDING SOLUTIONS sas Tel.: + 33 6 86 38 27 60 [email protected] www.vmzinc.com THE NETHERLANDS VMZINC Benelux & UK sa (*) Tel.: + 31 20 494 28 39 [email protected] www.vmzinc.nl POLAND VM BUILDING SOLUTIONS Polska Sp z o.o. Tel.: + 48 22 632 47 61 [email protected] www.vmzinc.pl TURKEY VM BUILDING SOLUTIONS Turkiye Tel.: + 90 212 243 38 03 [email protected] www.vmzinc.com.tr AUSTRIA VM BUILDING SOLUTIONS Deutschland GmbH Tel.: + 43 1 726 34 34 [email protected] www.vmzinc.at BAHRAIN/KUWAIT/OMAN/ QATAR/SAUDI ARABIA/U.A.E Metalbox Technology FZE Tel.: + 971 4 8137869 [email protected] www.metalboxtechnology.com SLOVAKIA Kovex s.r.o. Tel.: + 421 915 755 985 [email protected] www.vmzinc.sk BELGIUM/LUXEMBURG VMZINC Benelux & UK sa (*) Tel.: + 32 2 712 52 11 [email protected] www.vmzinc.be www.vmzinc.lu CANADA Canadian Brass and Copper Co. Tel.: + 416 736 0767 [email protected] www.canadianbrass.ca CHINA Beijing VM BUILDING SOLUTIONS Tel.: + 86 10 6424 6761 [email protected] www.vmzincasia.com FRANCE VM BUILDING SOLUTIONS sas Tel.: + 33 1 49 72 42 42 [email protected] www.vmzinc.fr GERMANY VM BUILDING SOLUTIONS Deutschland GmbH Tel.: + 49 201 836060 [email protected] www.vmzinc.de GREECE MIPECO Trading Ltd. Tel.: + 30 210 664 46 11 [email protected] www.mipeco.gr HUNGARY VM BUILDING SOLUTIONS Hungary Kft. Tel.: + 36 23 452 452 [email protected] www.vmzinc.hu VMZINC international VMZINC for architecture PORTUGAL VM BUILDING SOLUTIONS Iberica s.l. [email protected] www.vmzinc.pt QATAR NAGGIAR QATAR L.L.C. Tel.: + 974 4 687373/697790 [email protected] www.naggiar.net RUSSIA UNION ZINC Tel.: + 7 495 665 61 90 [email protected] www.union-zinc.ru VMZINC www.vmzinc.com UNITED KINGDOM VM BUILDING SOLUTIONS UK Tel.: + 44 1992 822288 [email protected] www.vmzinc.co.uk www.vmzinc.ie USA VM BUILDING SOLUTIONS USA Inc. Tel.: + 1 919 874 7173 [email protected] www.vmzinc-us.com (*) These company names are subject to modification in the coming months. FOCUS ON ZINC - 15 th Edition ARGENTINA KORZIN S.A.C.I. Tel.: + 54 11 4653 1425 [email protected] www.vmzinc.com.ar

1837 - 2017 VMZINC® is celebrating its 180th anniversary After almost two centuries working for the building industry, zinc is constantly reinventing itself and yet remains the same. Creating tomorrow’s heritage The societe des Mines et Fonderies de Zinc de la Vieille Montagne, renamed VMZINC®, is celebrating its 180th anniversary this year. At each stage of its development, it ensured that the zinc it produces perpetuates and strengthens its unique qualities, which guarantee its functionality and its expressiveness. With zinc, we are dealing with pertinent continuities, those found in Architecture...

VMZINC® 180 years of continuities HISTORIC CONTINUITIES GEOGRAPHIC CONTINUITIES Zinc has been present in the earth’s crust since the dawn of time and is found in abundance in many minerals. Although chemists in ancient times and in the middle ages tried to handle this metal, better known as “Indian tin”, it wasn’t until the Industrial Revolution that the Abbott and chemist Jean-Jacques Dony initiated the first large scale applications of the material with his original refining procedure, which led to its rapid growth in the construction industry. It was an immediate hit in the building sector thanks...

FOCUS ON ZINC N° 15 - October 2017. FOCUS ON ZINC is the international architecture magazine from VMZINC®. It is published in English, French, German, Italian, Polish and Spanish Publication Director Roger Baltus Project Manager Corinne Gessat Editorial Committee Silvia Besana, Michel de Caluwe, Stephane Corbel, Tugay Dindar, Corinne Gessat, Catherine Gibert, Laurent Heindryckx, Knut Konig, Eric Ladeuix, Jonathan Lowy, Barbara Nordberg, Laura Terricabras Balada Editorial Contribution Roger Baltus, Jenny Gilbert, Olivier Namias, Barbara Nordberg Design Graphic Plus D13678 Printing Groupe des imprimeries...

PUBLIC BUILDINGS When two periods meet One should not be misled by the severe Gothic appearance of the Betoño convent: this religious establishment was not founded in the Middle Ages, but at the beginning of the 20th century. In 1905, the Carmelite nuns who had been evicted from their convent in Toulouse moved into this neo-Gothic complex designed for them by architect Marcial Dagorette. Legend has it that the ex-consul of Spain in Toulouse left his fortune to this operation, which he funded entirely. He was embalmed and buried in the monastery. The Carmelites left the premises in 1999 and the...

VJttZINC VANZiNC No 15 / Focus on Zinc

COMMERCIAL BUILDINGS Urban dragon According to Chinese mythology, dragons hold audiences storey building housing cinemas, a fitness centre and in large glass palaces on the bottom of the ocean. a medical centre in its lower part. Together with an Although it is built on land, the Vattanac tower poses as esplanade, this layout makes it easier for the tower to a metaphorical incarnation of this legend, with its curved connect with the city. form evoking the mythical animal’s backbone, encased in a sheath of glass scales. A symbol of prosperity in The building complies with LEED environmental Asia,...