Maison Pour Tous

Four, France

Photo © Eduard Hueber / archphoto

Photo © Ludmilla Cerveny

Photo © Eduard Hueber / archphoto

Drawing © designbuildLAB

Photo © designbuildLAB

Photo © Ludmilla Cerveny

Community Centers

Architects: designbuildLAB

Location: 5 rue de la luminière, 38080 Four, France
Year: 2018
Client: Village of Four
Team: William Audin, Magda Audrerie, Roderic Archambault, Wafa Benjarmoun, Salomé Bergsma, Petronille Blondon, Matthieu Bo, Hugo Boulanger, Louis Bouret, Alice Cavallasca, Clémence Drouard, Laurence Lebel, Louise Mary, Lucas Munoz, Margaux Regalia, Louise Renault, Raphaelle Ruiz, Esméralda Tabai, Laura Tinas, Clément Venton, Héloise Viola, Linh Vu Thuy
Architect: onSITE architecture
Structural Engineer: Vessiere
Civil and Landscape: TAKT Paysage
MEP Engineer: Techniques Energétiques du Bâtiment
Earth Consultants: CRAterre and amaco
Prefabrication Platform: Les Grands Ateleris
Masonry Contractor: Enterprise Chanut
Rammed Earth Contractor: Atelier Kara
Carpentry Contractor: Arbosphere
Artisan Concrete: Raw Forms

The Maison Pour Tous (“House for All”) is community center in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of France which was designed and built by the first-year masters studio “designbuildLAB” of the “Ecole Nationale Superieure d’Architecture de Grenoble” (National Architecture School in Grenoble) with the support of the LabEx AE&CC (Laboratory of Excellence, Architecture Environment & Constructive Cultures).

For centuries the inhabitants of this region have found that their soil was perfectly adapted to rammed-earth construction. Their earth vernacular ultimately led to the (re)invention of contemporary concrete. After more than 100 years of ubiquitous concrete production, the Maison Pour Tous reintroduces and reinvents the inherent sustainability of locally sourced, simply prepared earth for a contemporary application.

The project is a group of three buildings: a multipurpose hall, technical space and storage, that are collected in a sensory landscape. To the North, an expansive mineral plaza accommodates large, busy outdoor events. To the East, a raised plinth prospects over football matches. To the South, earth excavated for the buildings foundations is mounded to generate terraced seating and meandering paths. Nestled among the buildings, a west facing patio with a single bench and deciduous tree offers a quite space to enjoy the setting sun.

Within the earth walls of the hall, an open plan, modulable storage and rolling bars invite a range of uses. A baffled spruce ceiling dampens audible reverberation during large gatherings. Large roof overhangs scribed to the path of the sun passively warm or shade the hall. Punched openings with glazed, larch frame accordion doors link its space to each of the surrounding landscape atmospheres.