In Mantes-la-Ville (78 - France), the ‘White Pavilion’ hits you in the eye

A dense, compact object, entirely in white, that takes in everything happening around it and hits you in the eye.

That's the architectural force of the new Combat & Weight Training Centre, known as the ‘White Pavilion’, located inside the Aimé Bergeal sports complex in the Parisian suburb of Mantes-la-Ville. The main aim of the project was to raise the profile of a number of sports that are often looked down upon and to add to the value of the existing sports installations. To do so, Christophe Murail, the project’s lead architect, along with Damien Brambilla, associate architect, have transformed headwinds into opportunities.

This amenity fits into a diffuse urban environment, tucked in amongst residential buildings, by creating a roof that acts as a 5th façade. The distinguishing feature of this thermo-acoustic roof is its white lacquered metal planes, whose regular rises and dips, formed by cut-outs, strips, slopes and counter-slopes, allow daylight deep into the interior.

By playing with the natural contours of the site—the other initial constraint—the main entry frontage progressively gathers momentum in the direction of the existing stadium’s stand. When night falls, the building becomes the “Aimé Bergeal lantern”, a dialogue between the building’s interior lighting and the outdoors.

In the long run, the Combat & Weight Training Centre, a new urban landmark, combines aesthetics with energy efficiency (20% better than the French “very high energy performance” standard, with ventilation provided by electrically operated openings in the top sections) and with functional amenities for users.

Brimming with light. With light entering the building from a light well as well as from picture windows opening onto three patios and from trapezoidal openings, the communal spaces are split into two functional blocks, namely combat (sunken level) and weight training. The curtain walls, sitting on the floor, also provide a large surface area allowing light through. Designed and made by Tessalu, these 400 square metres of curtain wall—‘Tanagra’ range frames set at varying angles—“give sought-after inertia and continue the lines of the roof”, points out Christophe Murail. This ‘skin’ is only partly glazed and transparent. Two thirds of the available surface is composed of translucent honeycomb panels filled with aerogel. These combine thermal and sound insulation with dazzle-avoiding light transmission.

Technical challenge. The ‘White Pavilion’ comprises nine curtain walls in the roof space and ten on the façade, each having one or two different angles in their top and bottom parts. This presented a technical challenge, which companies were quick to take up. “Most of the time, curtain walls are simple and rectangular, but here, different angles had to be managed, sometimes only one degree apart”, explains Thibaut de Tessières, the manager of Tessalu. Using AutoCAD software, the project was studied in depth to define the execution details—notably the hanging and fastening systems. On site, Tessalu took measurements using a laser, to adjust the fitting with millimetre precision after a fault in the constructed framework was discovered. “When, Profils Systèmes found themselves up against this difficulty, they acted with great flexibility”, notes Christophe Murail. Tessalu was finally able to install the fillings: double glazing in the lower part of the curtain walls, and on the patios, polycarbonate with aerogel in the upper part.

A complex construction project but a springboard

Tessalu, a joiner with 10 employees, bridged a new level with this project. “Since then, we have carried off two other contracts worth over €400,000. We have become the crooked curtain wall experts!”, says Thibaut de Tessières with a wry smile. His company’s links with Profils Systèmes have become tighter bound. “Profils Systèmes was very responsive. We obtained custom profile sections, unlike with the big-time Charlies who don’t adapt to the customer when needed.”

This was something of a springboard for Profils Systèmes too, who developed a bespoke finish cover with a rectangular projecting spine (T shape), a product not found in the catalogue. “Without this special cover, the result would never have been the same”, says de Tessières. “Profils Systèmes only made U-covers”, adds Christophe Murail. “This T-cover gives a different relief. When you look at the building from the side, you can feel the uprights and ribs punctuating the façades.” Sports participants who now frequent the ‘White Pavilion’ reckon it to be luminous, comfortable, and practical, reports Christophe Murail after returning to see it. “They feel good in it and that’s the primary reason they find it attractive.”

Contracting authority: Epamsa (‘Mantois en Seine-Aval’ public amenities establishment).

Usable floor area: 1,354m²

Total cost: €2.7m

Main contractor: Agence MA (Murail Architectures, Paris, www.m-a.fr.)

Aluminium joinery work: Tessalu (Mantes-la-Jolie).

Aluminium sections: Tanagra and Toundra hinged ranges (Profils Systèmes, Baillargues).

Photos : C. Murail - Agence M.A. et
 D. Brambilla, Architectes