Thanks to its flexible design, the 1.870 sqm wide and 13 meters high Great Hall, hosts various functions: first it is dedicated to sport practice – namely basketball, handball, mini-handball, badminton, judo, and gymnastics – with a special eye to schoolchildren and sportive competitions. It also host concerts and shows, with a gauge of maximum 2400, together with exhibitions and fairs.
The Festival Hall covers an area of 872 sqm, and is also dedicated to shows, associative events, weddings, fairs and exhibitions. Right next to it there is a kitchen which allows the organization of banquets, with a gauge that can rise to 900 persons. The architect looked for extending the outdoor ambiances into the indoor spaces, allowing the visitors to discover the coppered-metal facades, and when they enter the welcoming hall, they find the long bar covered with the same large expanded metal panels. The length of this bar, more than 14 meters, gives it a central, welcoming role.
Le Forum, Saint-Louis, Switzerland
Program: renovation of cultural and sporting spaces
Architects: Manuelle Gautrand Architecture, Manuelle Gautrand (principal architect), Cécile Ortolo (project manager)
Client: City of Saint-Louis
Project management: S.E.R.S
Structural engineering: AIC
Fluids engineering: Alto
Quantity seveyor: Cholley
Acoustics: JP Lamoureux
Fire safety: CSD-Faces
Roads and networks engineering: OTCI
Main contractors: Pontiggia (roads and networks), Urba-Doumez (structural work, concrete), Cabrol (steel frame, cladding)
Area: 5,713 sqm
Completion: 2016