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Sumit Singhal
Sumit Singhal loves modern architecture. He comes from a family of builders who have built more than 20 projects in the last ten years near Delhi in India. He has recently started writing about the architectural projects that catch his imagination. Indoor sports centre and Conference centre in Tignespace, France by Sylvain GIACHINO ArchitecteNovember 21st, 2013 by Sumit Singhal
Article source: Sylvain GIACHINO Architecte The new indoor sports and conference centre in Tignes is an extraordinary project that meets the ambitious challenge of providing an exceptional facility very discreetly, without fuss. Located in a restricted site, its single stone and glass façade mirrors the majestic mountain and lake landscape around Tignes. The building’s 8,300 m2 are buried under a planted roof, visible from all angles, which will become a flowery meadow in summer and a young children’s ski area in winter.  Image Courtesy © greg mistral
 Image Courtesy © andy parant For some years, there has been a new factor in high-level sport: some athletes of all disciplines go to train in artificially depressurised sports centres, mainly located in the Emirates, in order to improve their performance. These facilities are far away, technically very complex, and costly to build and maintain.Their environmental impact is also very high, or even unreasonable, in complete discord with present concerns. Therefore it is appropriate to imagine an economic, ecological solution that is easy accessible for French and European athletes and which takes advantage of an exceptional high-altitude natural environment. Therefore the Tignespace concept was developed.  Image Courtesy © andy parant At the same time, the conference center become an additionnal advantage to grow the resort’s commercial and events activities. This building, which is unique in Europe, is for high-level athletes, but is also available for use by the general public and for seminars and conferences. Performance and adaptability are the key words for this amenity, which has been designed and built sustainably. Its organic form and several technical constraints did not deter the design team from looking for simple construction solutions.  Image Courtesy © Simon Boudet History of a project The story of Tignes is similar to that of other high mountain towns. In 1952, the original village was submerged by the waters of the Chevril dam. Some years later, pioneers of snow sports settled on the edge of the natural lake, at an altitude of 2,100 m. In 1956, construction of the ski resort started, and the architect Raymond Pantz designed his first tourist accommodation. The “Paquebot des neiges” is a typical example: a building whose arc form follows that of the lake and provides a panoramic view of the mountain cirques. A gymnasium was built beside the bottom of this building in the 1980s with a simple design, consisting of concrete walls and a steel pan roof.  Image Courtesy © andy parant Sylvain Giachino, a native of Tignes, devised the conversion of this gymnasium into a high-level sports complex as a design project for his architectural diploma. He worked with the local town hall, the various public services and Tignes Développement, the operator, to meet the expectations for the future Tignespace as well as possible. In parallel, Tignes was voted “The most sporting town” in 2008. The programme was then adapted to the dimensions of national competitions and of indoor activities that were previously never found at an altitude of 2,000 m, particularly with its athletics track and its climbing wall. In 2009, the town hall organised a competition. The winners were Alain Palma of Atelier Plexus Architects and Sylvain Giachino. Atelier Plexus Architects, a Grenoble-based firm that led the project, has more than 30 years experience of building in mountain sites.  Image Courtesy © andy parant Merging into a restricted but outstanding site The new amenity replaces the old gymnasium, of which the structure will be partly retained. Built right up the large curved apartment block, it must keep a very low roofline in order to avoid interrupting the occupants’ view. In addition, its form is dictated by a narrow plot of land that is inserted between the apartment building and the road. The scheme’s form is the result of all these constraints: an elongated, partly underground building. it also determines the construction choices and the general organisation, giving priority to the athletes’ comfort in a project that is largely bathed in daylight. The large glazed panels of the south facade seem to lift up the roof, which is in the form of a crust of planted soil, like heaving ground or a deep crevasse.  Image Courtesy © andy parant Scored rock The single façade determines the appearance of the entire project and echoes the majestic landscape. By its colour and its texture of scored rock, the Vals stone recalls Les Tufs mountain, which faces the building. The large glazed area is a second mirror of the natural setting, as a reference to the lake. The stone, a very hard quartzite, is worked by breaking it in a way that preserves its rough finished appearance and highlights  Image Courtesy © andy parant The large panels of glazing allow daylight into the entire depth of the building. In winter, the south south-west façade will benefit from the reflection of light on the mountains. This lighting from one single direction does not create glare for players, especially as the games areas are positioned parallel to the façade. Adding to the mirror effect, this play of transparency creates a showcase effect when, after nightfall, the indoor activities become visible from the street.  Image Courtesy © Sylvain GIACHINO Architecte The façade consists of a double wall, 2.50 m wide, protected by a slight overhang. It provides good thermal insulation, houses all services installations in order to free the roof of any clutter, and contains solar protection between the two skins of the façade in order to re-balance light or to exclude it completely during a show. Sunscreen blinds soften the light, which can also be moderated by artificial lighting. The façade is made up two glass curtain walls. The external skin of wall, consisting of structural sealant glazing, is hung on slender timber posts, while the internal skin is supported by the drop elements of the metal structure.  Image Courtesy © Sylvain GIACHINO Architecte Transparency, adaptability and flexibility The main challenge was to harmoniously combine an indoor sports centre and a conference centre, without mixing the circulation flows, while keeping the various functions clearly visible, with great transparency between the different spaces.The sports part occupies the west wing, and the conference centre occupies the east. The two meet at the reception area, which is the core of the scheme from the viewpoints of design and function. Above this is the lounge area, which opens onto a very spacious external terrace, looking onto the mountain.The transparency between the spaces contributes to creating a lively place, with continuous views from the eastern end to the climbing wall. It bathes the entire building in high-quality natural light, which is a remarkable achievement for a building that is largely underground.  Image Courtesy © Sylvain GIACHINO Architecte As well as being gigantic, the amenity has the qualities of a chameleon. It is an adaptable, flexible, changing building. The  Image Courtesy © Sylvain GIACHINO Architecte A technically complex project From the construction viewpoint, since the scheme was inserted into a narrow plot with considerable height restriction, it was decided to choose a metal structure, which is unusual for a high-mountain building. A steel post and beam structure allows long spans without intermediate bearing points and with slender elements that can carry the extra weight of snow. A concrete substructure is provided for the basements, car parks and foundations. It includes the existing car parks and the gymnasium walls, which are retained and inserted into the new building. A nailed surface ensures the ground’s stability for bearing the sports centre against the apartment building. The roof consists of composite steel, concrete pans of the Cofradal type, which are covered by planted grasses. The roof vegetation is exactly the same as that covering the surrounding Alpine meadows, thereby enabling it to be visually integrated into the landscape as well as possible in the summer. The building was completed without any delay despite the constraints of the unpredictable high mountain climate, practically without running over the budget.  Image Courtesy © Sylvain GIACHINO Architecte Programme : Made up of three floor levels, including one underground, the programme is exceptional: To complete this project, the design team enlisted the expertise of various specialists for the structure, acoustics and scenographic design, as well as high-level sportsmen such as Jean Galfione (the scheme’s patron) for athletics, Christophe Billon (of the FFME French Mountaineering and Climbing Federation) for climbing, and Laurent Chambertin, manager of Tignespace and former volleyball champion.  Image Courtesy © Sylvain GIACHINO Architecte
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Tags: France, Tignespace Categories: Conference Center, Sports Centre |
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