Text description provided by the architects. SITE & PROGRAMIn 2010, the town of Saint Germain lès Arpajon wants to acquire new equipment comprising a media library and a school of music and dance. This cultural center will replace the current school of music & dance and the current public library which are located in a small and malfunctioning existing building.
The site chosen by the city is a long and narrow strap plot which fits in a larger scale between Chanteloup park overlooking the West and Orge Valley in low-cons in the East. The plot is steep and looks down to the valley. It’s framed by Rolland Garros High School on a side and by a cemetery on the other side.
Courtesy of Ateliers O-S architectesURBAN PLANNINGThe Project main access is located by Leuville road, at the top of the site. A new path, created along the school to connect the main road to the path Chemin du Roy, distributes an eventual project of nursery which could take place at the bottom of the site.
Courtesy of Ateliers O-S architectesORGANISATION IN PLANSThe program is organized as a continuous loop, joining the top square to the bottom square. The structural programmatic entities of the cultural center are the library, the school of music & dance and a centralized lobby (including animation spaces, auditorium, expectations and exhibition spaces) from where the whole building and the administration are vertically distributed.
Floor PlanAt the Leuville Road, the project is approaching the ground to emerge from it down below the slope. The equipment clearly appears from the road Leuville, thus affirming this main access with a mineral and generous square. The public entrance of the cultural center opens between the two branches of the equipment as a welcoming hand to guide you through the building.
© Cyrille WeinerThe design of the wall- panels, based on a meticulous framework gradually alternating with different shaded of glazed- panels and printed-panels, gives rhythm to the façade of the public building. Solid wall-panels are made of extruded aluminum measured elements to create a random feeling and hide all mechanical fixations. The roof is vegetated to increase significantly the inertia of the building and to preserve a pleasant views over the surrounding buildings.
complemented by an clear architectural style
allows the public building to become an attraction in the neighborhood but also a link between the Leuville road and the rive l’Orge
The project was designed according to a comprehensive though about location
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Courtesy of O-S ArchitectsThe new Cultural Center of Saint-Germain-lès-Arpajon settles into a long and narrow site, looking at the green valley of the Orge river, and dominated by the Parc of Chanteloup. These two landscapes are linked by a gradient slope whose dip allows to see the valley from the high point of the site.
On the ground floor is the generous reception area, organizing access to the whole program: the multimedia library, the music and dance conservatoire, and the administrative offices. This is the place of information and organization, the window of the cultural center.
site planThe multimedia library is directly accessible from the street and is organized in an L shape on a large playful and bright open space so that the library becomes an active space. The colored furniture acts as a partition and organizes the reading spaces.
plansOn the lower level is the music school and administrative offices. The classrooms are organized on the north side while the two dance studios open generously to the east on the landscape of the valley.
sectionsArchitect: Ateliers O-S Architectes Location: Saint Germain-Les-Arpajon, Essonne
Gaël Le Nouëne Landscape designer: Office of Landscape Morphology Fluids: CFERM Structure: C&E Economist: MDETC Acoustician: ORFEA Client: City of Saint-Germain-lès-Arpajon Schedule: Competition December 2011 / Completion September 2013 Budget: 5,280,000 € HT Area: 2 113 sqm²