CAME S.p.A. - the global market-leading group in home & building automation - has engineered the system operating the access door to the Ferriè pavilion at the Eiffel Tower in Paris, located on the first floor of the edifice. The new first floor, inaugurated in October 2014, underwent an overhaul which lasted nearly two years.
 

THE CHALLENGE

The pavilions and furnishings on the first floor of the Eiffel Tower were both obsolete and the monument's management company, owned by the city of Paris engaged architects Moatti-Rivière to design and execute the new first floor. It was to feature a spectacular glass floor 57 meters above the ground, several eco-structures and a new show space with facilities for the physically challenged.

So the Ferriè pavilion was completely demolished to build an entirely new structure which blends right into the pilons' curves thanks to a glass and steel structure. On the oblique glass walls, an exclusive gate opens to access the pavilion, and stands out due to its original butterfly shape.

The butterfly-shaped door needed to be powered and to withstand intensive duty cycles. It was connected to a home & building automation system capable of moving almost 700 kg per door, according to the plans designed by architect Alain Moatti, who was in charge of the requalification project.

THE SOLUTION

CAME was contacted by the HEFI company - which won the contract for making the curved glass walls on the first floor - to come up with an automated system for the access door to the Ferriè pavilion, that houses a hospitality area, a souvenir shop, a projection room and public bathrooms.

The Treviso-based company took and won the challenge and powered the two butterfly-shaped doors, while respecting the site's limitations and the exclusive 17% tilt of the glass walls onto which the system is fitted. All this required a customised job.
 

Product development and testing phase

In 2012, CAME set up a team that undertook a feasibility study lasting six months, to develop a system that could power the door. This required custom engineering, especially for the inverted command of the motors fitted on the two door-wings.

CAME helped research and develop automation power system. In the end, the two butterfly winds at the entrance were fitted with FROG+ motors installed atop the door. The two motors were fitted opposite each other.

CAME's 2013 was spent testing as required by the CSTB - the Scientific Technical Center for Construction. This spanned from demonstrating the operation to maintenance and installation of the tested system, and included power supply issues.

Once the motors were installed, some 900,000 open/close cycles were conducted.
 

Installation phase

In 2014, CAME conducted a last risk assessment study for the butterfly-shaped door in the Ferriè pavilion. It then definitely installed, on site, the system's control panel and door control, laid the cables and monitored the motors and the system components.

Each door operates interdependently and the FROG+ motors are controlled and monitored by a terminal connected to the CAME home automation system. The operator, finally, feature a state-of-the-art ZM3EP control panel, which ensures optimal performance levels even with over-size doors. Besides the normal security and control functions, the ZM3EP's new electronics provide total system control via cutting-edge functions: from self-diagnosing safety devices to Encoder-controlled door-leaf travel, from a user-friendly programming display on which to view all the functions, to memorizing radio commands with different codes.

CAME's home automation system stands for state-of-the-art management and total coordination with already fitted systems, that is, control devices and components talk to each other seamlessly. They process and exchange data to make each function operational, which harmoniously integrates all of the different technologies.

The door control is also managed by lateral laser photocells that work like virtual buttons, when any hand approaches them.