Project to re-qualify a coach car park as sports equipment. The program consists of creating two soft gyms and a space for a bike rental company owned by the RATP. At first glance the place does not lend itself easily to a program of local sports equipment. By its blind nature, its ‘buried’ atmosphere and its destination in car parks, the space generates many technical and aesthetic problems. Our responses to the challenges of this project:
Create a luminous atmosphere inside that rivals the outdoor green space.
To be able to exploit 100% of the constraining forms and volumes that remain upside down from a monolithic infrastructure.
Work to erase the smallness and inaccessibility of the place with a simple and efficient internal organization.
To make two users live together without dividing and reducing the apparent volume. Transformation of a disused coach parking infrastructure into a public sports hall. The program required the creation of two halls for mixed use by local clubs and societies. Amongst the activities accomodated; yoga, dance and table tennis and a storage facility for bicycle rental. The infrastructure presented a number of serious technicaland esthetic challenges. The volume is located under anurban fountain/waterfall ruling out any natural daylighting. The two facades allowing acces are listed and as such ruleout any major modifications.
Our project took up these challenges;
by subtle use of artificial lighting creating the illusion ofvolumes opening up to the exterior,
by exploiting 100% of the volumes constrained by theinalterable geometry of the monolithic infrastructure,
by maximising the limited space with a simple and clearinternal organisation,
by accomodating different usage within the same volumes,
