Community headquarters Neuves-Maisons (54)

Architect：Collectif Studiolada

Location：Neuves-Maisons, France; | ;View Map

Project Year：2024

Category：Offices

Repair/transform an old industrial site

The project aims to bring together all the services of the community of municipalities on one site, as well as the bus terminal for the community. The redevelopment of a former industrial site along the canal is achieved through various means: the creation of an office building extending from the existing technical center, the reintroduction of greenery, the reuse and relocation of old hangars on the plot, and soil decontamination. Transforming this artisanal and commercial area, located in a region in decline, is a current challenge for our territories. It involves initiating an urban and landscape transformation of an outdated commercial area through a contemporary intervention.

De-artificialize/decontaminate the soil and infiltrate rainwater

The previously paved soil has been partially uncovered. A rain garden collects water from the roofs, enabling on-site water management. Tanks collect part of this water to supply the bus washing station and restrooms. Plant species are used for the phytoremediation of polluted soils.

Location/architecture and building culture

The project for the headquarters of the Moselle and Madon community of municipalities reflects a quest for an architecture that aims for several objectives: to produce a design that is intelligible, sober, aesthetic, and functional, to reduce the environmental impact of construction, and finally, to open the site to initiate the process of community ownership.

The vast terracotta and zinc roof, which conveys the idea of a single protective covering, forms an overhang to protect the facades. By showcasing its structure, with wooden framing and raw earth brick walls, the community headquarters tells a story: that of a project drawing on what already exists, a building culture inspired by the vernacular, locally available materials, and the skills present or emerging in the region.

This project is informed by research carried out at Studiolada over several years, focusing on supply chains, materials, construction processes, and user involvement. Thanks to an architecture that reveals the materials and structural systems, the building becomes a distinctive architectural expression and a medium for communicating this narrative to the public.

Build/transition towards ecological and climatic adaptation

The building was designed with architectural and technical features aimed at reducing its carbon footprint. The layout organizes spaces around a central atrium punctuated by "flamandes," providing natural light and ventilation to the atrium. The building consists of a wooden structure (Vosges spruce), insulated with wood wool, and partition walls in a mixed wood and unstabilized earth structure. These heavy walls provide the building with thermal inertia, eliminating the need for air conditioning.

Source/anchoring the project with local actors and resources

The use of earth as a building material became a natural choice for constructing two internal partition walls alongside a wooden structure. The client quickly expressed a preference for using local earth with strong symbolic value. The aesthetic appeal of uncoated earth and its ability to provide mass for improving the building’s thermal performance were the main arguments. The earth project was initiated following architect training at Grands Ateliers (Amàco), followed by an on-site collaboration. Two sources of earth were identified within a 5 and 20-kilometer radius, analyzed and tested to determine a suitable formulation. A simple, natural, and local manufacturing method was used, which also anticipates the deconstruction phase: a mixture of clay, sand, chopped straw, and water, molded and dried to make bricks.

Train/support for local craftsmanship

Since the earth-building sector is nearly nonexistent in the region, it was decided to create a training program in advance, aimed at the local economic fabric (artisans, reintegration associations, etc.). This on-site training, delivered by Amaco and financed by the Community of Municipalities under a budget for "training local economic actors," allowed local, non-specialized actors to gain expertise in earth construction.

Collaborate/a temporary citizen brickworks

Later, a participatory workshop was organized on-site under a large existing hall to produce the 18,000 bricks needed for the project. Supervised by Amàco and led daily by someone holding a "DSA in Earth Construction" employed by the Community of Municipalities, this temporary brickworks attracted more than 300 people from all backgrounds (schoolchildren, students, local residents, self-builders, elected officials, inhabitants) trained in earth construction in exchange for their contribution to brick production.

After a drying period of several months, the bricks were finally laid by one of the companies trained as part of the support for local craftsmanship, which was thus able to demonstrate this skill during the work tendering process.

This was a beautiful civic adventure, enhancing the local economy and uncovering untapped resources to drive the ecological transition.

Raise awareness/the project house

The educational model intended for the future "Project House" will help explain the different phases of the project to all (elected officials, local residents, schoolchildren, businesses), from the implementation of the primary structure to the final finishes. It fits into a rich mediation context: school workshops, mediation in primary schools, partnerships with the school of architecture, round tables, and contributions to professional structuring via the building federation. It demonstrates the virtuous mutual influence between a global mediation process with the public and a readable architectural design. This model was presented at the exhibition organized by the Maison de l’architecture Île-de-France: "What models do for architecture #2" at the Chapel of the former Recollets convent in Paris.

Team:

Client: Community of Municipalities Moselle and Madon (54)

Architects: Benoit Sindt architect & Aurélie Husson architect, studiolada collective

Studiolada collaborators: Guillaume Cecchin (project manager) & Pierre Wendels & Nathan Illy

Engineering: Barthes Bois - Oak Ingénierie - Fluid’Concept - AJA - Amàco - Arnould & Eska - Franck Barlé OPC

Civil works: Lingenheld

Landscaping: Hurstel

Main structure: Adami

Plumbing: Boucherez

Electrical: Setea

Photographs: Ludmilla Cerveny

Materials Used:

Timber structure: Maddalon

Roofing: Vosges Charpente

Exterior carpentry: Alfred Klein

Interior carpentry: Wucher

Heating/ventilation: Avenna

Plastering: Gallois

Flooring: Europ Revêtements

Elevator: Lift N Co

Earth bricks: Drouot Bat

Cleaning: Apic

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