Case Study: Platane Architecture achieves precise, cost‑saving BIM fabrication of Versailles' floating stone façade with VectorWorks

Using BIM to Breathe New Life into l’Ecole des Beaux Arts de Versailles

Platane Architecture, a Paris firm led by Platane Beres, was commissioned to revamp the 300 m² Sculpture and Painting Department façade of l'École des Beaux-Arts de Versailles, located under 500 meters from the Château. The brief required opening the building to the town while preserving a historic feel and realizing a daring design: six 2 × 5 m, two-ton stone rectangles with bubble-like protrusions, suspended from a hidden steel structure — a complex, freeform geometry that posed significant fabrication and coordination challenges.

The team used Vectorworks BIM to model the project in 3D, export STL files and drive a rented five-axis CNC stone mill (a European first for a modern project), and produce coordinated construction documentation directly from the model. This workflow enabled precise NURBS/Boolean/drape modeling, smooth collaboration via workgroup referencing, and a 3D-printed presentation model to secure approval. The approach cut fabrication costs dramatically (stone carving would have been ~3× more expensive), reduced documentation time and expenses by about 30%, delivered millimetric accuracy (stones seated 5 mm apart), and completed the project in 18 months.

Platane Architecture

Platane Beres

Founder