ARCHITECTURAL FOCUS
ESPACE MAYENNE
HÉRAULT ARNOD ARCHITECTURES
Espace Mayenne is a multifunctional facility including a large sports and entertainment venue with a capacity of 4,500 , a gymnasium with a climbing wall for international competitions , and a conference hall . In addition to these three main venues can be found other spaces , such as partner lounges designed as modular rooms to receive guests during games or shows , as well as offices and cloakrooms for artists and sportsmen . Outside the building , the project is completed by a 670-space parking lot , a landscaped area , and a 250-meter-long cycling ring for national competitions integrating a training track in its center .
THE SITE
Espace Mayenne is located in a former military site bordering the French city of Laval , along the D900 urban ring road . The project began with an urban and landscape study aiming to define guidelines for the future development of this site in accordance with the framework of the Ferrié new neighborhood . This is an area undergoing change , crucial to the dynamic revitalization of the city . The building ’ s organization respects the landscape structure and the memory of the site , combining ecology , compactness , economy of means , and the creation of a mass plan saving parcels for future programs . The landscape heritage of the site is remarkable . It is composed of a natural area - marshes , woodlands , and wet meadow - and an old bocage grid with sculptural trees and sunken lanes , which are all entirely preserved . An east-west pedestrian-bicycle path is created to structure the site , crossing the public parking lot and the wetland , before widening itself in front of the building into an entrance piazza .
THE BUILDING
To participate in the economy of soils and shape optimization , the building is a unitary volume that envelops the three venues in one movement . The organic aspect of the building stems from its conception . It is less of a design gesture than the consequence of a process that articulates the three halls on a singular landscape . The façade is like a skin wrapping itself around the rooms , resulting in a shifting shape that constantly changes depending on the viewpoint . It is composed of three horizontally stacked stripes that deform themselves in order to envelop the volumes as tightly as possible . These three ribbons overlap and rotate around the building , generating fluidity , unity , and movement . Together , they create a flexible plane covering the entire height of the building and sometimes elevating itself in certain points in order to uncover glazed façades . Its complex form is subdivided into simple , identical
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