14 POLYVALENT HALL, LE VAUD
One of the client’s requests was to incorporate as much local material into the building’s construction as possible
width made up of seven planes which, according to the architects, make the scale of the building appear “ambiguous and abstract”. A chimney structure also protrudes from the roof, nodding to the cottage typologies found in the region. “Questions of form were very important,” says Saurer. In terms of scale, the architects wanted the building to be “something within the measure of a child.” It was important that the building’s mass were restrained; firstly, to better integrate it into the village, which is made up of small buildings, and secondly, so it wouldn’t appear intimidating to the younger demographic that make up a significant portion of users. The team was also keen for the building to react to the nearby mountains, and decided to orient the rooflines in parallel with the topography. The result “looks, in a way, like part of the landscape,” remarks Saurer.
Drawing lines between the new hall and its context and as part of the client’s brief, the architects specified only local materials for Le Vaud’s new hall, with its exterior shrouded primarily in agricultural steel, like that used for farmhouses and agricultural buildings throughout the Swiss Jura. Triangular sections of slatted pine appear to sprout up from the building’s east and west elevations, providing a shading system to the triangular window beneath, while the same slatted timber frames expanses of glazing recessed into the mass of the building right across the north and south elevations. Here, far-reaching views of the Jura mountains to the north, and Mont Blanc to the south are captured for users.
Uninterrupted space
“The interior works with the topography, too,” says Saurer, “with some rooms hidden underground.” The concrete forecourt doubles up as the roof slab of some of the accommodation on the lower ground floor of the building, housing numerous amenities such as lavatories, plant, small function rooms, a kitchen area, and storage areas for chairs, tables, and other equipment.
WWW.ARCHITECTSDATAFILE.CO.UK ADF AUGUST 2019
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