Belfort, France
archi5 + Borja Huidobro
Post By:Kitticoon Poopong
 |
| Photo © Courtesy of Fabien Terreaux--South-west night view |
The city of Belfort was planned to control the pass between the
Jura and the
Vosges. It’s pentagonal plan, was designed in 1687 by
Vauban, completed and reorganised by the General Haxo from 1817 and on. The Fort Hatry where the sports and events arena of Belfort is located was one of the exterior bastions of this defence device.
 |
| Photo © Courtesy of Fabien Terreaux--South-east corner night view |
The fortifications have a geometry not derived from the urban orthogonal grid but with multiple directions designed to control movement, conceived to obtain clear sight lines, designed for the art of war, with an aesthetic of edges and folded walls.
 |
| Photo © Courtesy of Fabien Terreaux--South-east corner |
Since it’s dismissal as a defence device the Fort Hatry has become an informal park used for open air activities, leisure and events, giving place for ephemeral structures such as luna park’s and circuses. It is today a transitional space, an infrastructural knot where roads and railways cross at different levels and at different speeds.
 |
| Photo © Courtesy of Fabien Terreaux--South-west day view |
Conceived as a powerful landmark, the new building establishes a strong relationship with the majestic skyline of the nearby
Vosges mountains and the Belfort Castel.
 |
| Photo © Courtesy of Fabien Terreaux--South-east frontage detail |
The facility assumes its role as a public building and urban catalyst, a place of centrality, gatherings, meetings, sport and cultural events.
 |
| Photo © Courtesy of Fabien Terreaux--South frontage detail |
The design of the new building creates a strong contrast to the existing stone walls. Recalling the fluidity and the dynamic of sports activities, the façade of the sports arena makes a flexible and generous movement through the landscape. Convex and concave folds react to the existing straight lines.
 |
| Photo © Courtesy of Fabien Terreaux--North-east frontage detail |
The envelope of the building, realised in translucid glass with a smooth and crystalline quality picks up the subtle colouring of the natural light, the sky and the landscape. At night the building is transformed into a bright lighthouse, fully expressing the events taking place inside.
 |
| Photo © Courtesy of Fabien Terreaux--South-east night view |
The building is firmly anchored in the hillside, the glass skin is cut to fit perfectly in the artificial topography, in the same time the glass ribbon seems detached, almost floating over the pre-existing fortification.
 |
| Photo © Courtesy of Fabien Terreaux--Main hall |
The new structure seams to have always been there, responding to the logic of the site and in the same time it appears as something as light and ephemeral as a circus tent.
 |
| Photo © Courtesy of Fabien Terreaux--Circulation |
The building expresses two aspects of sport activities, on one hand the discipline and the rigour, on the other the playful sensuality through the contrast between the orthogonal geometry of the playing field, and the free lines of the envelope.
 |
| Photo © Courtesy of Fabien Terreaux--Inside detail |
The glass ribbon enlaces the programmatic activities, creating compressions and expansions between the halls and the skin.
 |
| Photo © Courtesy of Fabien Terreaux--North-east aerial view |
The main sport hall is the heart of the complex, it is served by a public circulation directly open towards the playing field. By positioning this space around the hall, it forms an open liaison; an intermediary layer between the hall and the city.
 |
| master plan--drawing © Courtesy of archi5 + Borja Huidobro |
The stands are concentrated on the two long sides of the playing field, giving a more dramatic section and intensity to the space.
 |
| lower ground level floor plan--drawing © Courtesy of archi5 + Borja Huidobro--(4) Main Sport and events hall (5) Sport hall (8) Meeting Room (9) Dressing rooms (10) Referee dressing rooms (11) Fitness and workout room (12) Plant room and storage (13) Technical access |
 |
| upper ground level floor plan--drawing © Courtesy of archi5 + Borja Huidobro--(1) Main entrance (2) Staff/ VIP entrance (3) Entrance Hall (4) Main Sport and events hall (5) Sport hall (6) Public circulation (7) Players and VIP lobby and club offices |
 |
| first level floor plan--drawing © Courtesy of archi5 + Borja Huidobro |
In this way the two short sides stays open towards the entrance hall and the public circulation, making place for standing viewers with a different, fluid and informal perception of the game.
 |
| sections--drawing © Courtesy of archi5 + Borja Huidobro |
 |
| detail--drawing © Courtesy of archi5 + Borja Huidobro--(1) Grass mantel Toundra vegetation, Sopranatura vomplex; drainage layer sopralite, insulating panels, corrugated sheeting (2) Double layer of Profilit k25/60/7, aluminium profiles anchoring exterior closure (3) I-300-section structural column, steel tube dia. 200 mm, thick 3.2 mm. (4) Grass mantel, fabric to oppose erosion, substratum (5) Reinforced concrete stands (6) Coloured Expoxy resine, reinforced concrete slab 20 cm (7) Reinforced concrete wall thick 25 cm (8) Reinforced concrete slab 20cm |
The proximity between the players and the public aims to dissolve the traditional barriers between those who play and those who watch.
Description from the Architects:
 |
| Axonometric view--drawing © Courtesy of archi5 + Borja Huidobro |
Project Data
Project name: The Lighthouse
Location: Belfort, France
Program: Sports and events arena with a 1500 to 2800 seats principal hall, secondary sports hall, administrative and associative spaces
Surface area: 5,163 m2
Competition Year: April 2005, 1st Prize
Completion Year: May 2008
Cost: 6,449,620 Euros
The people
Architects: archi5 + Borja Huidobro
Studies for construction and urbanism agency: archi5prod
Engineer, economist: OTE Ingénierie
Landscape designer: Michel Desvigne
Scenography: atelier Gérard Frisque
Acoustic engineer: Tisseyre & associés
Light designer: Aartil, Michel Pieroni
Perspectivist: Auralab, Eric De Broche-Des Combes
Photographs: © Fabien Terreaux
Note>>Location in this map, It could indicate city/country but not exact address.
