Accoya shutters at Angoulême station: still stable after 10 years

As part of the renovation of Angoulême station, Accoya shutters and louvred sun screens were installed as early as 2016 on the ground-floor windows, more than four metres above ground. The AREP agency, architect for SNCF, specified Accoya because these hard-to-reach elements called for an extremely stable material, durable outdoors and virtually maintenance-free. Photographs taken in November 2025, nearly ten years after installation, show perfectly functioning shutters: no deformation, no warping or cracking, and slats still aligned despite only two fixing points at each end. The wood, supplied through Compagnie Forestière de l’Atlantique (Groupe Peltier Bois), has never been replaced or repaired. This long-term case study, in a railway environment exposed to the weather, provides tangible proof of the dimensional stability and class 1 durability of Accoya, guaranteed for up to 50 years above ground.