Multifunctional

Salle des fêtes de Pratgraussals

ppa●architectures + Encore Heureux

Site and surroundings

On the north bank of the river Tarn, 400m as the crow flies from Albi’s cele­brated Cathe­dral of Saint Cecilia, Prat­graus­sals sits in a bend on the river on the site of a former quarry, latterly appre­ciated for leisure and nature.

For the new commu­nity centre, ppa●architectures + Encore Heureux have proposed a buil­ding that responds to the land­scape, and whose morpho­logy allows for a variety of possible future uses. The distant spire of Saint Cecilia’s Cathe­dral calls for a buil­ding of great simpli­city, laid out hori­zon­tally, its gallery rein­for­cing its pede­strian links.

Building

The sloping roofs indi­cate the centre, over the main events hall, and the two extre­mi­ties at the south and north corre­spond respec­tively to the main entrance and the artists’ entrance. The peri­pheral walkway becomes a suspended canopy, indi­ca­ting the entrance. The simpli­city of the volumes and combi­na­tion of mate­rials offers a double scale: a dome­stic scale, with parti­cular refe­rence to agri­cul­tural buil­dings, and the scale of a public buil­ding open to all.
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Interior

The Prat­graus­sals commu­nity centre is a major amenity, part of the commu­nity, invi­ting, conceived to cater for the wide range of events that it needs to accom­mo­date.

The brief stipu­lates the cons­truc­tion of a large hall to seat 500, plus asso­ciated services: recep­tion, dres­sing rooms, tech­nical logi­stics, kitchens, manage­ment, as well as the neces­sary external deve­lo­p­ments in the meadow to the west, with its events stage.

Program

A hall desi­gned both as an important piece of equip­ment for the Pause Guitare festival, and a welco­ming and convi­vial buil­ding for multiple uses in the city of Albi. A simple brief for a commu­nity venue for parties, meetings, games and events for all ages and all passions.

To these criteria was added the requi­re­ment that the buil­ding be cons­tructed in less than 11 months in time for the 2017 and 2018 festi­vals.

Functionality and uses

The centre of the project is the large events hall, whose roof makes it possible to adapt a recep­tion area by decom­po­sing it into three sepa­rate spaces, thus being able to accom­mo­date a range of confi­gu­ra­tions. Parti­cular care was given to ensure both natural light during the daytime, as well as the possi­bi­lity to black out for shows or projec­tions.

At either end of this space are, to the south the main entrance to the buil­ding, and to the north a secon­dary entrance, provi­ding the option of exten­ding the events’ space out into these two addi­tional volumes. A broad canopy protects the southern entrance from the summer sun or provides shelter from the rain. On the north side, the canopy extends out away from the buil­ding, forming an external space like a little patio giving onto the park, which can be priva­tised. To the east, a func­tional concept provides access the entire buil­ding via an internal access passage.

Materials

This large space is covered by a zinc roof consis­ting of eight clearly defined pitches, contri­bu­ting to the iconic form of the buil­ding. The facades are clad in timber from the Limousin region. The bases of the walls are in prefa­bri­cated concrete studded with pebbles from the neigh­bou­ring Tarn river. The mate­rials are simple and natural, signs of basic comfort and real dura­bi­lity.

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Project data and compa­nies involved

Address

Salle des fêtes de Prat­graus­sals
113 rue de Lamothe
Ville d’Albi
F — 81000 Toulouse

Opening

2018

Construction costs

€6,300,000

Architects

ppa • archi­tec­tures
Jean Manuel Puig, Laure Alberty, Ana Castro
9 bis rue Ernest Jean­bernat
F — 31000 Toulouse 

ENCORE HEUREUX
Nicola Delon, Margot Cordier , Olivier Caudal
104 rue d’Aubervilliers
F — 75019 Paris

Compe­ti­tion team:
Clémence Durupt, Guil­laume Sicard, Floriane De Roover, Romain Léal

 

Photos

Cyrus Cornut
Phil­ippe Ruault
RKhoob Photo­gra­phies
Hugo Segura
Studio tChiz
Encore Heureux

Text

ppa archi­tec­tures + Encore Heureux

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