With KATABA, we're heading for a more desirable future in real estate

Luc Monvoisin has already lived several lives. After studying industrial design, he took a 180° turn to become chief engineer in the merchant navy. It was a job that led him to witness the environmental damage caused by his expeditions at sea. So KATABA was born with one ambition: to find solutions to reduce as far as possible the impact of our consumption of manufactured products. 

In 2017, KATABA's business started by adopting a local production approach. Then, in 2018, the company adopted eco-design with the help of Ademe. ‘This enabled us to realise that product transport only accounts for 15% of greenhouse gas emissions,’ he continues. On the other hand, 80% of the carbon impact is linked to the choice of raw materials’. In 2020, the company is adding the re-use of materials to its practice. ‘With the use of this ‘secondary’ raw material in our projects, the carbon footprint will be divided by 8!’ enthuses Luc Monvoisin.

It was then that Gecina got in touch with KATABA, through the City of Paris' Maison des Canaux. ‘Known as a pioneer in reuse, Gecina asked us to use the sheet metal from the fan coil units, which had been salvaged during the deconstruction of the Mondo project building in Paris. We offered to transform it into top-of-the-range light fittings, 540 of which have been installed in the Tour Horizons in Boulogne-Billancourt. It's really satisfying to be able to recycle waste materials and transform them into value-added objects’. KATABA supported Gecina from A to Z, from the customer brief to the production of prototypes, with its characteristic agility, to make the most of materials with a minimum of resources and navigate through the regulatory and technical constraints. This re-use initiative was a real success, saving the equivalent of 86 tonnes of CO2.  

Gecina is also particularly committed to ‘drastically reducing its CO2 emissions in operation by 2023’. As far as possible, it encourages the re-use of materials in its property developments. It has already achieved good results, with 70% of greenhouse gas emissions avoided since 2008, including 45% on development projects over the last 6 years. In 2023 alone, 1,800 tonnes of materials were re-used in its programmes and 100% of operating waste is recycled or recovered. This strong commitment stimulates our desire to share projects with Gecina,’ concludes Luc Monvoisin. Over the months, we have already worked together on a number of projects, including an acoustic island designed from old suspended ceiling tiles for 35 Capucines, and other projects for Gecina's head office, 3 Opéra, 96-104 Charles de Gaulle... For the future, we are looking at issues such as facing stone and the reuse of mirrors... The adventure is only just beginning.