The Manufacture Design is a cross-laminated timber box, slipped into a 100-year-old industrial hall, the only building preservation in an eco-district of 100 hectares. Removing the roof over the central patio promotes the natural watering of plants. French-made and recyclable materials take precedence, such as wooden formwork storage partitions, recycled marble furniture and compressed bamboo flooring. Air conditioning is replaced by an electric wave in the heating circuits. The Kanopée® triple-function acoustic/heating/lighting suspended ceiling, an original creation by Saguez & Partners, is offered in all its major building projects.
“Design is above all a way of addressing topics by listening to individuals. For too long, we have addressed consumers while omitting users. The two levels that count today are my neighborhood or my village, and my planet. Here and there is where I want to act.”Olivier Saguez
The Manufacture Design integrates solutions to limit energy consumption: pneumatic waste collection tunnels that produce energy for heating; pooling of car parks between residents; 25 shared electric car and bicycle parking spaces… Sustainable development is also a way of living and thinking together. A pioneer in well-being and efficiency at work, the agency is constantly innovating services and uses that improve everyday life. Since September 2019: a partnership with the Sensitive Zone Urban Farm supplies the refectory with seasonal fruits and vegetables grown in Saint-Denis, 6 km away.
For the last 17 years in Saint-Ouen, the agency has participated in the social and economic life of its own territory. Invested in the major urban challenges of the 93rd, the youngest department in the Ile-de-France region, it supports local associations involved with sports, professional training and integration. Education is at the heart of its priorities, as demonstrated by Design Act !, the first agency-based school that trains students around specific issues in the Seine-Saint-Denis area. At the launch of Paqte Avec les Quartiers (Neighborhood Pact With Businesses) by the French government, with 70 participating companies, the agency naturally joined the program: raising awareness, training, recruiting and buying in its surrounding area.
Sustainable design and solidarity design in its local area are the two cornerstones of the foundation. In its neighborhood, its city and its department, the Saguez Corporate Foundation has invested over time with four associations. Cultural exhibitions at the Manufacture Design are open to educational visits. An advocate for living better together, the foundation organized the #inspiretaville event in 2018 to offer a second look at the major changes underway in Saint-Ouen. In 2019, it contributed to the creation of Vélo So Cargo, an inter-associative fleet of bikes that promote soft connections, and to the reservation campaign for L’Increvable, the first washing machine designed to last.