Just like the sport itself, structures built for sports are always signifiers of identity. Especially in such provincial communities as Longvic in the south of Dijon, sports clubs play an important role in social life. Here the architecture of sports facilities can contribute to the self-image of the community. Named after the French hand baller Véronique Pecqueux-Rolland, the new sports hall offers ideal training and tournament conditions to the teams of the regional handball and martial arts leagues as well as to popular sports teams and various schools.
Together with Sénéchal-Auclair Architectes from Chalon sur Saône, Dietrich | Untertrifaller Architekten won the public competition in 2012. The building outline stands out prominently, but its expansive structures are still harmoniously integrated into the fragmented surroundings made up of single-family homes, nurseries, fields and meadows. The design has succeeded by embedding the playing field and spectator seats in the ground, which made it possible to keep the building at a moderate height while ingeniously placed bends break up and modulate its length. These facets are continued in the green roof landscape, turning it into an attractive fifth façade, which is particularly well visible from the south-west street access.
The dark-brown building shell made of anodized aluminum contributes to the integration into the environment, just like the high transparency that offers clarity through the entire building depth along with views of the interior and the surroundings. The architects thus succeeded in creating a precisely positioned structure with clear angular references, which makes a distinctive statement while also sensitively integrating itself into the environment, similarly to the Sports Center at ETH Science City in Zurich completed in 2010. The building’s compactness originates from the wish to create an energy-efficient, environmentally compatible structure, which is why wood was used as a significant construction material.
The ambiance is characterized by the subtle colorfulness of the construction materials – exposed concrete and wood, which offer a robust and elegant background for the various functions. Only the central showplaces – on the floor of the ball sports hall and divisible martial sports hall – received orange accents. A counseling center for adolescents (Point Information Jeunesse) is integrated into the building on the street side. Thanks to smart spatial connections, the dense building arrangement still has a clear organization. A narrow, slimmed-down design, reduced material language and excellent supply of daylight imbue the spaces with a high degree of airiness and lightness.
Opened in 2015, the Sports Center in Longvic is one of the first of now six projects by Dietrich | Untertrifaller Architekten in France. A school in Broons in Brittany (2013-2015, Prix Architecture Bretagne 2016), Ecole Nationale Superieure d'Art (ENSA) in Nancy (2013-2016), the Strasbourg Convention Centre (2013-2016) and another sports center in the urban expansion area Bon Lait in Lyon (2014-2016) were created almost at the same time. After winning a competition in 2015, the firm is currently constructing a school in Lamballe, Brittany.
PROJECT DATA SPORTS CENTER LONGVIC
Client: City of Longvic
Location: F-21604 Longvic, Route de Dijon
Architecture: Dietrich | Untertrifaller & Sénéchal-Auclair
Project management: Ulrike Bale-Gabriel
Competition: 2012 / 1. Price
Construction: 2013-2015
Gross Floor Area: 2,780 m²
Capacity: 550 users
Partner
Structural engineering: Espace Ingenierie, St. Brieux
Building services: Armor Ingenierie, Langueux
Sustainability: Act Environnement, Loos en Gohelle
Cost planning: M2C, Lamballe
Acoustics: Acoustibel, Chavagne
Pictures: © Bruno Klomfar
Plans: © Dietrich | Untertrifaller Architekten
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