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Architects: LOCALARCHITECTURE
- Area: 3312 m²
- Year: 2024
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Photographs:Matthieu Gafsou
Text description provided by the architects. With its small environmental footprint, the design for the new changing rooms and refreshment bar at Daillens Sports Centre is pioneering and ambitious, despite its modest functional programme. The old municipal changing facilities, dating from the 1970s, had become too run-down to renovate. And so the local authority decided to provide new facilities for its football team, FC Venoge. The building is organised along the axis of the football pitch, stretching out elegantly and topped with a large metal roof. The roof looks paper-thin, its ridge echoing the ridges of the Jura mountains in the background. The building is mainly made of wood, covering an area of less than 400 m2. It houses changing rooms and showers for the players along with a refreshment bar and its associated amenities and a space for the bowls club.
Local and made-to-measure materials - The wood used comes mainly from local forests (lowland larch), while the straw used to insulate the walls was supplied by village farmers. 1,200 small-sized straw bales were made to measure using vintage baling machines that were brought back into service for the task. The dimensions of the straw bales underpin the entire design, referenced even in its smallest details. The wall frameworks – made of solid wood, with the same substantial depth as the straw bales – were prefabricated and insulated in the workshop. The primary structure is made of 37 repeated frames of glued laminated timber spaced equally across the floorplan, again following the straw bale dimensions. These primary fir frameworks have brackets of varying lengths which support the green-stained battens and the corrugated metal roof
Concave and welcoming
With its curved and concave shape, the roof slips smoothly into the space between the sunflower fields and the football pitch. The body of the building, protected by its metal canopy, is divided into four separate volumes, arranged symmetrically on either side of the halfway line on the football pitch. These heated facilities are separated by covered spaces where the teams can gather and, at the centre, a communal open space with a refreshment bar. On the pitch side, the large entrance passageway is shaped by the rhythms of the repeating wooden structure. On the field side, it extends from the car park towards the agricultural land beyond with a long covered area providing access to the venue for all users. The building is slightly raised from the ground to seating height. This welcoming, pavilion-style design invites users to sit around the building perimeter during matches or to enjoy the sun on the Jura side.
Layering - The architecture of this distinctive structure, with its differentiated colour shades, expresses its character through stacking and assembly, which makes its various elements very easy to read. Stacked up between the light-coloured natural wood frames of the supporting structure, the green panels made of local larchwood are reminiscent of the straw bales they contain within them. The ventilation is highlighted by dividers also made of light-coloured wood. Features from the world of agriculture, like the metal roof and the mud scrapers in the floor, contrast with the sophistication of the wood architecture, which pays homage to the craft and expertise of woodworkers and this material's flexibility.
Mindful re-use - In addition to using local materials, which limit the amount of transport required, particular attention has been paid to the reversibility of the construction elements. This building was conceived within a simple design ethos that allows its eventual deconstruction to be envisaged at the same time. As part of the same approach, elements of the old infrastructure were re-used wherever possible. The old boot washing station was relocated, for example, as was one of the old shelters on the site, which now houses an outdoor heat pump. Finally, photovoltaic panels on the roof provide electricity for the facilities and the heat pump, achieving a near balance between consumption and generation on the site. The use of concrete, meanwhile, was kept to a strict minimum, in the strip foundations. This small building, which was opened in September 2024, discreetly embodies a mature, fully developed approach in an era defined by the need for humans to operate responsibly with respect to resources and our environment.
