Domolandes in the digital age

Twelve companies are currently hosted in the business nursery and hotel. Innovative start-ups, specialist design offices, traditional companies wishing to incorporate a "sustainable" outlet into their activity, companies in the wood construction sector, building companies currently undergoing change: the profiles of these companies represent the diversity of the eco-construction branch of the building sector.

The benefits for the companies present on site are numerous. First, the strategic location which is ideal for conquering the markets of the Landes as well as on the Basque coast and the southern Gironde. Then there is the accompaniment which covers all the fields of corporate development. Finally, the companies enjoy synergies which are encouraged and offer new commercial opportunities.

"These synergies are real, admits Jean Fone Tchoura, Director of Domolandes. There is a complementarity in terms of competencies and markets. The companies also work on crossed recommendations from customers and suppliers." The results were not long coming. The companies on site recorded an increase in turnover in 2013. "More than 1,500 professionals from the sector have found their home at the technological hub, continued Jean Fone Tchoura. Moreover, we are the coordinators of the CLE network - the Landes eco-construction cluster - which brings together 60 institutional and technical actors as well as companies based in the Landes."

Digital platform for the building sector

The potential impact of digital technology on the building sector could be compared to the impact of the introduction of Internet in daily corporate life twenty years ago. With the new digital tools, it is now possible to design and build a building in the same way as we design and build a car or a plane. "This will become the norm in the near future," predicts Jean Fone Tchoura, the Director of Domolandes. With a view to creating value and innovating for companies within the region, Domolandes is home to a virtual design and construction forum for products and buildings. In concrete terms, this forum - baptised "Digital and construction Platform" - which will be inaugurated in September, will provide a range of services to companies, from the programming and design phase of new buildings to site monitoring. It is possible, for example, to simulate the movements of machinery and to visualise the application of new materials. This work tool is made available to the companies housed at the technological hub as well as to the companies of the region and the research and development centres. It offers the possibility to test new software and interactive interfaces and to design new methodologies. The digital platform is developed in synergy with the network of national Domolandes partners. (Scientific and Technical Building Centre, School of Arts et Métiers Paris Tech, INRIA) and the support of the local authorities: the Conseil Général of the Landes and MACS as well as the Region of Aquitaine.