Present in the Seine-Saint-Denis department since the 1980s, the Asturian brand relocated to the heart of the Écoparc sector within the Écocité – Canal de l’Ourcq development zone last February.

How do you reaffirm your local roots? By moving just 500 metres away! Established in the Écocité district of Bobigny for around forty years, roofing materials distributor Asturienne recently opened the doors of its brand-new sales outlet. A challenge for the Saint-Gobain Group brand, given the many land-use and regulatory constraints involved, but also a deliberate decision to remain in the immediate vicinity of its original location, so close to Paris. “We are very proud to provide roofers with a site offering unrivalled stock depth and expertise in the Île-de-France region. For our customers, it truly has a ‘wow effect’,” says François Salomé, Managing Director of Asturienne. The construction of the new site involved 16 companies and required twenty-two months of work. It consists of a business facility facing Rue de Paris, incorporating a self-service area and a Velux showroom, and also housing a Cédéo sales outlet—another Saint-Gobain Group brand serving heating professionals—as well as a storage building located along the Canal de l’Ourcq, separated by a parking area. Designed by architect Guillaume Colboc (Ateliers O-S Architectes Paris), the latter features a low-carbon bio-based structure with a sawtooth roof in the purest industrial style.

Zinc Coils in Bobigny

Covering an area of 2,730 m², the site offers the largest stock of zinc coils in the region, as well as roof windows (Asturienne is Velux’s leading customer in France – “although an architectural specification may require Roto”), stacked materials reaching heights of up to 10 metres, Cupa, Isover, VMZinc (“we can also supply Rheinzink”), Edilians products, and 80 metres of roofing timber.

Above all, the site offers a feature highly valued by professionals: a 600 m² metal fabrication workshop capable of meeting all metal shaping and bending requirements, particularly for zinc in the Île-de-France region. It is equipped with highly efficient machinery, including a 6-metre Thalmann folding machine, a 3-metre Nesta shear, profiling machines (for flashings, hems, and standing seams), a slitting machine, and a bending machine. While on-site folding machines generally handle lengths of around one metre, the workshop’s machine, six times longer, eliminates the need for multiple joints. All metals can be bent in the workshop—zinc, of course, but also aluminium and steel. Professionals can purchase parts on site and benefit from free bending services. Delivery is also available.

A Distributor Committed to Roofing Professionals

The final service offered—and certainly not the least important—is located at the back of the storage area, in a humidity-controlled and ventilated zone. Here, Asturienne provides a Jouanel lead-sheet cutting table developed in partnership with the manufacturer. This machine saves time when cutting lead sheets and reduces the physical strain associated with handling this particularly heavy material.

This workshop fully reflects Asturienne’s commitment to roofing professionals. A commitment to preserving traditional trades that notably took the form of support for the application to have the know-how of zinc roofers and ornamental roof craftsmen recognized as UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2024 (see Toiture Magazine No. 37). “This Bobigny site reflects Asturienne’s commitment to supporting roofers with the expertise of the market-leading specialist distributor, offering solutions and services designed to strengthen their day-to-day performance,” summarizes François Salomé. In the Île-de-France region, the company operates a network of six sales outlets and two workshops employing a total of 54 people.

Photo credits: Asturienne, Joseph Melin

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