ecdm architects: gymnasium la tourelle sarcelles, france

gymnasium – la tourelle school, sarcelles, france photo © p. ruault image courtesy ecdm architects

located 16 kilometers from paris, sarcelles is part of the ‘banlieue’ that quickly accommodated immigrants who arrived at the end of the 50s. with a current population close to 60,000, sarcelles consist of a small old core and a huge expansion to the south known as le grand ensemble and conceived in 1965 by jacques henri-labourdette, it is currently undergoing an ambitious urban renewal operation. this is the context behind the project by ecdm architects which created cover and access for disabled people in a multi-sport court of the secondary school of la tourelle.

for the architects more than building a roof, the idea was to extract the practice of sport from a school context, where the dimensions imposed by regulations were not possible, for which reason there could only be a beginners’ court.

gymnasium – la tourelle school, sarcelles, france photo © p. ruault image courtesy ecdm architects

concept based on glasses image courtesy ecdm architects

gymnasium – la tourelle school, sarcelles, france photo © p. ruault image courtesy ecdm architects

the structure of laminated wood is diffused within a tube covered with a translucent material that distributes the light homogeneously and does not create strong contrasts with the wood. add to this, the graphics of the ground and a double grille at the ends, tensed in accordance with models of curves and counter-curves that turned them into two enormous pairs of glasses. the collaborative work with the client (malik mouhoud, project manager of the region ile de france) has led to reformulate the image of sport in a school.

gymnasium – la tourelle school, sarcelles, france photo © p. ruault image courtesy ecdm architects

gymnasium – la tourelle school image courtesy ecdm architects

gymnasium – plan of beginners court image courtesy ecdm architects

general info program: coverage of a sports field client: région ile de france project manager: ecdm business: plumbness, everlite, XR systems, tennis and soils location: sarcelles size: 1 000m ² photographer: p. ruault completed: november 2005