Month: April 2015

MANOSQUE IN FRANCE: THE FIRST INDOOR FOOTBALL COMPLEX WITH TEXTILE COVER

Posted on by globule

Manosque, a french town that has undergone major demographic and economic development in recent years, inaugurated its first indoor football complex in spring 2014. In charge of its design and construction, SMC2 chose textile architecture for its many qualities in terms of solidity, durability and comfort. This indoor complex has thus become the first complex with a textile roof in France.

 

A first in France
As the most populated town in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, Manosque needed a structure that would allow the many football enthusiasts in the region to play their favourite sport in the best possible conditions, whatever the season.
The Manosque indoor football complex will celebrate its first anniversary on 27 May. Equipped with 4 5-a-side football pitches, 3 padel courts, a restaurant, a lounge bar and a business area, it is the first building of its kind to be designed with a textile covering in France.

 

The choice of textile
Innovative, textile architecture offers many advantages that are all the more appreciable under the sun of Manosque. Indeed, located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region, the town enjoys strong sunshine and higher than average temperatures throughout the year. As practising sport can be difficult in very hot weather, the sports complex had to offer ideal conditions for practising while being environmentally friendly (and therefore energy efficient).

 

The assurance of a comfortable playing environment
Composite membrane is a material that is used in the construction of the world’s largest sports complexes such as the Olympic stadiums in London and Berlin. It offers great comfort for players and spectators while being environmentally friendly and more economical than traditional materials.
Its low thermal inertia allows sports to be played in good conditions despite the high temperatures that can prevail outside. Its natural lighting offers a homogeneous luminosity without shadow zones or glare.
As matches and the public can be noisy, the textile architecture offers a high level of acoustic comfort by curbing the phenomena of echo and reverberation.

 

Eco-responsibility
100% recyclable, the thermal and luminous performances of the textile material allow precious energy savings in heating/air conditioning and lighting.

[TESTIMONIAL] SAMUEL GAUTIER, ARCHITECT, ATELIER EPICEA

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[TESTIMONIAL] SAMUEL GAUTIER, ARCHITECT, ATELIER EPICEA

“The metal and fabric roof solution has very interesting light, thermal and acoustic properties.”

 

The new Saint-Denis sports centre on Réunion island is the first sporting facility with a completely wooden structure and a metal and fabric roof. The product designed by SMC2 was selected for the construction. We take a look back at the project with Samuel Gautier, manager of Atelier [ÉPICéA] architecture agency.

 

Can you describe the sports centre to us?
It is part of an urban landscape that can be easily seen from Saint Denis’ Boulevard Sud, situated between a ravine and a rainwater canal. You could say it is on a “peninsular” with strict geographical constraints associated with 100-year flooding. For example, people get to the centre over a bridge. The main building with its “opaque” roof (Ondulit sheet metal and plant complex) has the changing rooms, club house and patio. The second building with the metal and fabric façades and roof has the sports facilities with a multi-sports hall for handball, basketball, volleyball and also badminton. But the hall is mostly used for handball with local club matches held there.

 

Why did you choose a fabric roof?
The primary objective was to recommend a naturally ventilated and lit sports hall using a bioclimatic design. On Réunion island, this is the first sports facility with a completely wooden structure, cross-ventilation and roofing system with a double-curved fabric envelope. This roof is very interesting because it generates the ideal light for indoor games (diffused). When sports halls and gyms use artificial lights, players are distracted when the ball is in the air. We designed two large façades in micro-perforated fabric with openwork walls. The overall impression is that you are playing outside, as if under a canopy. This was an important element for us. And, this solution has very interesting thermal and acoustic properties. This sports centre is a facility that provides structure to the town (Anru programme) and the roof means the building will be like a lantern once the sun has set.

 

How is it designed in light of Réunion’s climate constraints (high winds, cyclones, etc.)?
These elements were carefully considered. We worked on this problematic for the façade and the roof. SMC2 has a rare patented system which has extended warranties for French overseas territories affected by these climate constraints. Furthermore, the company provided all the necessary elements required by the authorisation office for the different standards. SMC2 also reassured the contracting authority that even if the fabric is pierced by debris during a fierce storm, the procedure for repair is very easy and costs little.

 

Contracting authority: Saint Denis Town Hall, Réunion Island
Architects: Atelier [EPICéA] / APA / 2APMR
Structural Design Office: A3 Structures
Fluid Design Office: INSET
Finance: CiEA
Acoustics: AIEE

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