About

VS-A group has 4 companies specialized in building envelope design. It started 30 years ago in France, and created HK office in 2011, Korean office in 2013 and Shenzhen office in 2018. VS-A has worked on more than 700 projects all over the world, and collaborated with more than 200 Architects.

Their scope of work covers not only glazed curtain-walls, but includes also single windows, rain-screens, internal and external solar shadings, double-skin facades, building maintenance units… and finally all items that qualify architecturally and technically the complex relation between interior and exterior.

VS-A work as designers, able to interact with Architects, Developers and Contractors on all kinds of programs and building types: office buildings, luxury retail, residential, hotels, cultural centers, sport centers, car-parks and transport hubs, factories.

On any of these projects, which can be appointed by Architects and developers from competition stage till final completion of the work; VS-A is experts and also sometimes appointed as jury member, conference speaker, norm-writer, product-designer.

Their engineering consultancy works in the sphere of building and, more particularly, in that of the development of façades and lightweight coverings forming their outer structures. The point at which many architectural ambitions coalesce, the outer structure, is no less subject to regulatory and economic constraints and has to meet increasing demands in terms of performance. These generally relate to comfort, energy supplies and safety.

Bridging the gap between architectural and technical considerations enables the configuration of structural details consistent with architectural concepts and sometimes vice-versa. Such developments involve much to-ing and fro-ing and cooperation between all stakeholders, including the main contractor and the inspection bureau (where appropriate). This sometimes involves requirements for current products perhaps slightly diverted from their original function, or the development of specific customized products using appropriate digital modelling tools or scale models.

Although they know them well, they set requirements completely independently of any supplier or contractor. In particular they have developed a method of performance specification and graphic representation based on type, architectural constraints, limits of services and, if necessary, specify without ambiguity the opportunities for contractors to come with their own technology or expertise.

The projects in which they have been invited to participate share a common ambition of having an outer structure which, deliberately or due to circumstance, is out of the ordinary. The nature, size and location on the one hand, the personality of all the stakeholders on the other hand, render each project unique and each of their proposals special.