"Gymnase des Moneghetti" in Beausoleil
The ‘Gymnase des Moneghetti’ is situated within the densely urbanised context of the town of Beausoleil in southern France. The plot is set 4 meters below the access route and the positioning of the sports hall in this sunken terrain diminishes the impact of the building on the street and permits the addition of a rooftop sports ground to the programme.
As with the majority of our projects, we endeavour to make the roof a habitable element and by this consideration we proffer a functional space back to the town. The approach paths continue the levels of the access route and when inside create a mezzanine platform offering unique plunging views over the sports court below. This external entrance area and the sense of transparency toward the interior contribute in creating a lively and secure small public plaza and address a much needed centrality within the district. The gymnasium exudes a soft warm light in the evening, affirming the buildings axial position within the borough and signalling its usage beyond the day.
The foundation stratum of the building is constructed in concrete and the metal superstructure clad in corrugated metal sheeting, glass and polycarbonate. A membrane of metal netting protects the facade and extends skywards to enclose and signify the rooftop court, subtly recalling images of playgrounds in New York.
On how the building works:
The sports hall is open throughout the week for the use of the neighbouring schools and during the evenings and weekends is accessible to a multitude of sports associations and clubs. The programming of the project required a multi-functioning space catering for a diverse range of activities from basketball to martial arts. By adding a rooftop element to the programme we proffered a space back to the town that would transcend the limitations of a sports building and could be used for meetings or open air events.. Clear sightlines toward the roof permit passers-by to participate passively in the activities and equally serves to integrate the players into the community.
About the urban context:
The project is located in Beausoleil, a village situated midway between Nice and Italy. This small town, built on the hillside between the sea and the mountain demonstrates an approach to urban planning typical to the region. Instead of standardized volumes of buildings there are thin strips, one or two plots wide, rising in tiers and lined with streets traversing the east to west latitude.
The town is served by a pedestrian orientated network of straight stairways with a Northern/Southern aspect and these long fissures offer glimpses toward the sea and give the area a vertiginous nature. The gymnasium is situated within the densely urbanised context of the residential district of Moneghetti and the project demanded an equally dense programme of usage; a multifunctional sports hall with an exterior sports ground, a martial arts hall and space for parking.
The plot is set four metres below the access street and the client’s feasibility studies recommended a juxtaposition of the programmatic elements within a low building that would have been almost hidden from the street above. We proposed, as an alternative, to superimpose the various elements of the programme in response to the density of the context.
In this residential street, without public buildings, the height of the gymnasium would be defined by the utilisation of the roof as an open top playground. The access, from the street above, approaches at almost the mid point of the height of the building and once interior creates a mezzanine platform with a plunging viewpoint over the sunken multifunctional sports hall. This creates a distinct rapport between the public space outside the building and the interior, accentuated by the glass façade that serves to dissimilate the physical boundary.
The immediate context of the gymnasium is reflected in the glazed strip of the entrance façade reaffirming the dialogue between the building and its near environment and similarly glimpses of the immediate surroundings are possible from the sports hall reinforcing its membership within the district. This sense of centrality is extended to the night where the gymnasium exudes a warm yellow light and serves as a glowing lamp to the small public area in front, create a secure and vibrant evening meeting point.
About the social background:
The project is situated in Moneghetti, a old district of Beausoleil with a primarily working class population, proud of their heritage yet keen to embrace new projects in their town. The close proximity of the town to Monaco ensures an immense pressure on vacant land for residential projects and subsequently the town has a scarcity of public or free spaces .The predominantly residential area has a large youth populace and the project was initiated to make provision for this demographic. The building has been positively and rapidly appropriated by these young residents who report of strong identification with this contemporary intervention into their neighbourhood.
In this calm district, lacking a sense of real centrality, the building stimulates its environment and by exploiting the constraints of the sunken terrain, proffers its uses and activities to the sight of the passers by. More than an inert object, the totality of this building seeks to be a utensil, a tool to service the quiet suburb of ‘Beausoleil.’
On the design process:
During the early design stages our attentions were drawn to the plight of a ‘petanque’ club, (a French game similar to bowls,) who were displaced from their playing court by a developer who’d bought the land. Their lost playing-ground was in close proximity to the project and consequently we persuaded the town that the inclusion of a rooftop exterior ground might equally serve displaced clubs like this. The club was eventually given land in the surrounds of the gymnasium, but the concept of the rooftop playground was retained to serve a diverse range of uses.
On the Architecture
Superstructure and skin are mutually co-dependent and the skeleton of the building expresses overtly the method of construction. The structural columns circumnavigate the periphery of the building, liberating the interior space and rhythmising the façade. This structural outline remains clearly legible when clad with both translucent polycarbonate or glazed panels. The framework became a motif in which to insert netting, polycarbonate or glass in response to the demands of the programme (to observe, to illuminate, to protect etc.)
Interior configurations (joinery, framings) are reduced to minimum requisites, the structure itself defining the doors and frame supports for the glazing and polycarbonate. The undulated metal sheeting used to clad the building folds inward to form the suspended ceiling, further accentuating the transition from exterior to interior. Specific details like the treatment of the angles by hidden closing joints ensure that analogies with industrial buildings are avoided. The glazed angles are resolved by a direct adhesion of the panes with the aim of preserving a maximum sense of transparency. We sought to alternate notions of ‘the poor’ (netting bolted by capped screws, corrugated metal boarding; polycarbonate etc) with the precious (careful detailing of the angles and a ‘curtain’ of glass.) The base forms a raised foundation box upon which the metal superstructure is posed and its sunken position, hidden from view, permits the level of the street to be utilised for the entrance and parking area. This base layer is treated with a textured rendering, embracing literally the archetypes of the quarter.
The stratification of the three levels is comprehensible from the public staircase, each layer having received a different treatment, (coated base, glazed mezzanine, rooftop enclosed by metal.)
Ventilation strategies were extensively studied to discretely integrate the air-filtration system. In the sports hall a textile sheath has been incorporated to diffuse the fresh air (this supple socking able to withstand volleys of balls without damage.) The extraction grills are hidden behind the acoustic boarding in the lower level and on the mezzanine level are dissimilated into the floor.
