Biot村礼堂扩建项目丨法国丨Atelier EGR

Atelier EGR, France

Atelier EGR’s extension of Biot village hall creates new room for public gatherings and municipal functions at the heart of the village

A new piazza was created, featuring a glass block artwork by Luca Mengoni

The piazza connects the town hall to the back of the Saint‑Roch chapel

Constructed entirely in concrete to resonate, the architects say, with the limestone buildings of the village centre, the extension forms a stepped descent from the piazza to a multipurpose room below (next image)

At the back of this room is a lightwell framing the rock at the base of Saint-Roch chapel

The Marseille‑based practice has crafted a portfolio of civic work and social housing across France that aspires to appeal to all

Atelier EGR

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In 2021, a monolithic structure was unveiled in Biot, a fortified medieval village near Antibes in the south of France. Nestled in a steep inclined site, it is a grand concrete extension connecting the village hall to the historical chapel of Saint-Roch, as well as Biot’s main car park. The extension accommodates an archive and spaces for public gathering. Frédéric Einaudi, who co‑founded Marseille‑based architecture firm Atelier EGR with Maxime Gil and Anthony Rodrigues in 2013, says that the village hall extension is not a building, but a ‘roof’ that creates a ‘new form of monumental space’.

On the upper level, a piazza has been created at the back of the chapel, drawing people into a covered triple‑height loggia. Slender concrete 5.5m‑high columns hold up a flat roof that provides shade for informal public gatherings in the hot summer months. The piazza itself is paved with concrete and a constellation‑like pattern of inset glass blocks. Biot is known for its ceramics and glassblowing traditions, so the municipality commissioned artist Luca Mengoni to work with local artisans and create what Einaudi describes as a ‘sculpture within the square’.

From the piazza, a ramp and a curved set of stairs provide access to the spaces below (there is a lift too), which include a multipurpose meeting space on the lower ground floor, and an archive at basement level. The multipurpose space is striking – at the back of the room, a large glazed lightwell reveals the weathered rockface that sits at the foot of the chapel above. Einaudi calls this space the ‘crypt of the chapel’. In addition to the archive and a room for municipal functions, the building also provides access to the car park.

Despite its monumental architectural language, the structure mostly blends into the wider urban fabric of Biot. Perhaps this is the result of meticulous sensitivity to scale, or the conscious decision to use one singular material – concrete. Einaudi describes how the surrounding buildings were constructed with limestone and the architects wanted to use a modern material that provides a similar palette.

This considered approach is also evident in Atelier EGR’s social housing work across France. In the village of Jouques, outside Aix‑en‑Provence, they designed 12 homes for low‑income families in 2019. The project is in a rural area with a lavender field on one side and a forest on the other. The ambition was to start developing the site as part of a wider masterplan; the structure needed to be simple and low cost. Built around an enclosed communal garden, the scheme is simple and repetitive; the architects wanted to create a sense of rhythm inspired by the narrow rustic houses in the area.

Atelier EGR is gearing up to unveil two more social housing schemes in the south of France. They are also working on a home for older people, with adjoining gardens and patios – like the Jouques project, it focuses on ‘bringing the landscape inside’ the scheme. Atelier EGR hopes to create work that is rooted in context, simple, affordable and, importantly, ‘for everyone’.