Projects / 8/27/2024

A modular project in wood in the heart of the Alps

The Étoile des Sybelles in Le Corbier, France, is an innovative hospitality facility built in the name of sustainability. Ceramic tiles and LVT floors were installed using Mapei solutions

The Étoile des Sybelles in Le Corbier, France, is Europe's tallest wooden modular building, featuring sustainable construction methods. Mapei's products were used for the installation of ceramic tiles and LVT floors, ensuring low VOC emissions and high performances.

In the heart of one of the most extensive skiing areas in France, in Le Corbier, in the Department of Savoia, stands Étoile des Sybelles, the tallest building in Europe entirely constructed out of wooden modules. For the first time ever, this system was adopted to construct a residence in a skiing resort.

Ossabois, a company specialised in wooden constructions, was chosen for this sustainable project situated 1,550 m above sea level, along with the solutions supplied by Mapei France, a Group’s subsidiary located in France.

LVT floors were bonded with ULTRABOND ECO V4 SP adhesive.

A challenge successfully overcome

Designed by Hubert Architecture, the 8-storey building has a surface area of 10,000 m² and contains 99 apartments and suites, along with a bar-restaurant, lounges, spaces dedicated to wellbeing and fitness.

“Constructing this building from sustainable and renewable materials, such as wood, enables CO₂ emissions to be reduced by 30%. And, thanks to the fabrication of the modules in the workshop, we were able to reduce waste by 30 to 40%”, said Rénald Vert, the Industrial Manager of Ossabois.

Constructing the building in modules enabled the project to be completed in record time: work started in December 2020 and, in spite of an interruption for several weeks due to the pandemic, construction and installation of the modules was completed in September 2021. The target was to welcome the first guests in December and was successfully met, as Rénald Vert recalls: “Modular construction allowed us to gain a whole year on work times compared with a more classic approach”.

To build Étoile des Sybelles, it was necessary to optimise the production of the 310 modules, before shipping them to Le Corbier by truck. On average, the modules were installed at a rate of 10 per day on the lower floors and 6 to 8 on the upper floors. "The types of wood used varied according to the floors of the building”, Rénald Vert told us. Ossabois chose wood from France or from countries in Northern Europe: a choice focused on respect for the environment, which was also extended to other materials, such as the floor and wall coverings and building products used in the project.

The Étoile des Sybelles residence is the tallest building in Europe entirely constructed out of wooden modules. Its construction required the use of 310 modules.

Highly sustainable installation materials

Mapei systems also played a part in the construction of the building: to install the interior floor and wall coverings, sustainable products with low VOC (Volatile Organic Compounds) emissions were chosen, as certified by the German Association for Emission-controlled Installation Materials, GEV.

The ceramic tiles were installed in the 203 bathrooms using KERAFLEX EXTRA S, a deformable, improved, cementitious adhesive certified EMICODE EC1^Plus, which is manufactured and distributed on the French market by Mapei France.

Tile joints were grouted with ULTRACOLOR PLUS quick-setting and drying polymer-modified mortar with water-repellent DropEffect and mould-resistant BioBlock technology. This product is now part of the ZERO line of products with fully offset CO₂ emissions*. MAPESIL AC pure acetic sealant was then used to seal the expansion joints.

More than 7,000 m² of LVT (Luxury Vinyl Tiles) floors were installed in the 310 modules using ULTRABOND ECO V4SP universal, high performance adhesive for laying resilient and carpet floorings and coverings.

ULTRABOND ECO V4 SP is an adhesive in water dispersion especially suitable for installing PVC, LVT and rubber floorings. It was used to bond LVT floors in the Étoile des Sybelles hotel.

Project information

Étoile des Sybelles, Le Corbier (France)

Period of the intervention: 2020-2021

Intervention by Mapei: supplying products to install ceramic tiles and LVT floors

Design: Hubert Architecture

Owner: Maulin Ski

Main contractor: Ossabois

Mapei distributor: Rouchy Issoire

Mapei coordinator: François Guarini, Mapei France

Photos: Lotfi-Dakhli-Ossabois, OT Corbier, Manu Reyboz

*The products belonging to the ZERO line have their CO₂ emissions measured throughout their lie cycle in 2024 using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology, verified, certified with EPDs, and offset through the acquisition of certified carbon credits in support of forestry protection projects.