A new swimming pool in Chambéry by 2019 ALN Atelien Architecture won the tender launched by the City of Chambéry to design a new swimming pool to be opened in 2019
ALN Atelien Architecture, together with Euclid Ingénierie, R Agence, Etamine and EAI, won the tender called by Chambéry Métropole to build a new swimming centre, in an area undergoing development near the city centre of Chambéry.
Dedicated to local citizens, the facility consists of a 4,800-sq.m building with a 900-sq.m area of indoor swimming pools and a 6750-sq.m summer lido with a 900-sq.m water surface, and will accommodate more than 232,000 users every year from 2019.
A large modular metal shed roof evokes the industrial nature of the site.Inside, a perspective view of a first functional unit allows a glimpse of the wide area dedicated to wellness and sports pools. In the background, beyond the windows, a summer lido accommodates open air swimming pools with slides and water games.
The project is the first of three operations covered by the Pools Plan, launched by Chambéry Métropole in 2005 with the aim of increasing the number of local sports and leisure-time facilities. The project will be officially presented to the citizens by the Chambéry District during the Savoy Fair at the Parc des Expositions scheduled from 10th to 19th of September 2016.
A pool that is part of the reorganization of the town system
The lot that is the subject of the project, located near the centre of Chambéry, is in a widely changing area. In fact, around the area where the new pool is going to be built, the whole Rubanox industrial area is going to be demolished and transformed, the stands of the rugby ground are going to be extended and the crematorium enlarged. The pool will be the first step in this transformation process as well as a reference point for the future developments, in view of the attraction and social significance it will take in the commune and town.
From an urban point of view, the lot is located at the crossing of two very different contexts where highly recognizable architectural types are found:
• the first one, in the south and east and of a residential type, is characterized by a precise grid where individual houses with traditional pent roofs are repeated;
• the second one, to the north, is of an industrial type and is defined by linear architectural elements repeated inside the settlement. These two configurations are reflected in the development of the new architectural and urban settlement with the adoption of a regular distribution grid, and the proposition of a common geometric volume, that can be easily recognized from afar.
The pool building, as the main transformation element of the site, can therefore become the reference point of the new urban reality, and an incentive for the following development stages and renovation of the wider system it is a part of.
The hinges of the general organization of the project site are the following:
• Positioning of the new road system to the north/north-west perimetrally with regard to the sector, so as to allow the connection between Avenue Alsace Lorraine and Avenue du Repos and prevent any interference with the smaller flow of pedestrians and bicycles (inserted inside the project site). This choice will allow integrating the new flow into the existing ones without modifying the main traffic and guaranteeing the direct connection with the three poles of pool, rugby stadium and crematorium.
• Insertion of a central crossing axis that crosses the site in an eastwest direction, for the whole of its length, in order to distribute the accesses to the pool, the rugby stadium and the crematorium. The eastern end of the axis will also be the main entrance to the site from Avenue Alsace Lorraine. Apart from having a connection, distribution and visual function, the new axis will become a real «boulevard» where to stroll, stop and cycle and will play a pivoting role in arranging the external structures of the site. The composition elements completing it - rows of trees, benches and flowerbeds - follow its position (east-west), linking with the existing volumes (rugby stand and crematorium) and the new one of the new pool.
A pool meeting the users’ needs and expectations
The data the Chambéry District considers the final objective of the project and has placed at the basis of the requirements of the contract are the following:
- 900 m² of covered pools;
- 900 m² of open air pools;
- 340 open days a year;
- 4.550 open hours a year;
- 140,000 admissions a year;
- 80,000 school group admissions a year;
- 12,000 club admissions a year;
- 232,000 expected users a year against 53,000 users for the old pool (up to 2015). Project position and orientation
The guiding principles in choosing the position of the building inside the project lot were the following:
• Compacting the structuring of the covered functional spaces in the north of the lot to leave a green belt in the south that will not be shaded by the building and where better summer exposure will be enjoyed.
• Orienting the layout of the pool according to the direction of the lot perimeter (Avenue Alsace Lorraine side) to restore and strengthen the continuity with the context.
• Giving the cover a strong architectural connotation, so that it becomes a kind of landmark, supporting the redevelopment of the whole site.
The roof, the fifth front of the building, becomes therefore a live and pliable element whose visual memory is already a part of the context: the sloping roof is repeated in the shed roof modules of the nearby industries and in the pent roofs of the residential units around it.
• Stressing the correspondence between container and function by defining two different heights in the pool building: lower in the north, where all the functions are located (from 4 to 6 meters) and higher in the south for the area with the covered pools (between 8 and 10 meters).
• Orienting the north-eastern positioning of the roof skylights in order to guarantee an optimal supply of zenithal light inside the rooms.
• Defining just one main representative façade to the north that will be the entrance to the pool system. Space organization criteria
The guiding principles adopted in distributing indoor and outdoor spaces were the following:
• Separating the service space block and the common spaces from the pool area, to occupy the north side of the lot and for better closeness to all accesses. This way, space is freed to the south to dedicate to the indoor and outdoor pools.
• Freeing the three sides of the pool area (east, south and west) to have a 180-degree view of the outdoor pool and the landscape and, during the summer, perceive just one indoor-outdoor pool at a glance.
• Placing the two indoor and outdoor pools in a mirror-like arrangement to get a visual alignment of the two water pools and the two highest viewpoints located along the edges of the pool system (inside steps and outside solarium).
• Placing the entrance in the north-eastern corner of the lot, near the main access flows to the pool and the nearby car parks (cars, bicycles, buses). The highly central position allows creating a visual axis consisting of: entrance (visible from Avenue Alsace Lorraine)/ indoor pool area/outdoor pool. This also allows controlling all the accesses to the internal functions (changing rooms, steps, outdoor pool, administration office).
• Clearly separating the pedestrian flow of the main access and the vehicle flow of the technical and service accesses by defining a technical strip in the north-west of the lot.
• Characterizing the external areas located on the edge of the lot, according to visual, environmental and acoustic wellbeing criteria.
• Maintaining some architectural elements of the existing building in order to encompass and promote the affection of the Chambéry inhabitants towards this emblematic site.
• Offering pleasant and clear reading of the space through the direct correspondence between content/container, function/ aesthetic and volumetric characterization of the rooms in order to allow the immediate recognition of the division of the various activities inside the building.
• Guaranteeing the utmost linearity and clarity of the routes by defining precise and open views that allow easy control, minimum surveillance and simple recognition of the various functions and the users’ easy fruition of routes and connections. Functionality and materials
The image of the building comes from the integrated design of architecture, structure, systems, energy and environmental aspects.
Wishing to obtain a functional, long-lasting architectural system, even trying to save costs, some fundamental assessments have been made: • The choice of a laminated wood structure, strictly connected to the principles of prefabrication and sustainability, has been influenced by the availability of the wood locally
• The modularity of the span, for both the service/changing room block in the north and the covered pool block in the south, can favour speed of production and assembly on site, during the construction stage.
• Apart from being able of partially reflecting the surrounding environment and widening the perception of the outside space, the aluminium cover of the façades offers some benefits in terms of sustainability since aluminium is a locally produced material that allows reducing maintenance costs.
The simplicity in the choice of materials, as well as the continuity in the formal language between indoors and outdoors, has reinforced the public and functional character of the building:
• In the outside shell that includes both façade and roof, the alternation of just two materials (aluminium and glass) draws a succession of opaque and transparent strips that enliven the perception of the façades.
• For the most important and representative parts of the building, we chose to use a cover made with wooden strips, laid following the direction of the façade as to the floor and of the roof as to the false ceiling, in order to enhance and make the architectural volume even more readable from the inside.
• For the false ceiling and to cover some parts of the pool area, wood is used, wishing to pick up again the language used in the entrance hall but increasing their acoustic performance. Moreover, on the skylights, a wide sheet spreads a soft light in the large room of the covered pools.
• For the service areas, such as changing and adjoining rooms, white and grey mosaic tiles are used, to recall the design of the labyrinth flooring of Chambéry Cathedral. This reference supplied the guidelines for the study of the internal signs conceived as a visual orientation system along the distribution routes and inside the rooms. The mosaic tile system continues in the pool walls and the connecting routes, to give a uniform image to both indoor and outdoor pools.
• Outside, wood is again the protagonist in covering the perimeter walkways (pedestrian path in the entry square area, changing room area and kiosk sector), in the façade of the changing rooms and of the existing building and, finally, as the finishing material for the furnishings. External areas
The external area project defines a sequence of open-air pools, water games, mineral beaches and plant solariums in the southern area of the lot, reaching the western, southern and eastern borders. The outdoor pools will be accessed in a controlled way, from the entrance to the pool, through an external route along the eastern side of the building.
The fully tiled water pools consist of:
• Outdoor pool, symmetrical in relation to the internal competition pool, to strengthen the centrality of the environment and have visual and planimetric continuity between the inside and the outside.
• Water games & slide are to the south-west of the external pools, in line with the game and wellbeing area. This defines clear and strong continuity between the spaces dedicated to children’s games both indoors and outdoors.
The mineral beaches are located around the pools, following their planimetric layout, and are physically separated from the solarium areas by green hedges. The grassed solarium areas cover the strip surrounding the pools and are divided into three different areas, each one with its own configuration and characterization. The difference between the solarium areas is highlighted also by the choice of different tree species that enhance their specificity/function.
Acoustic comfort
The criteria adopted for the acoustic comfort of the building are different in the various areas, in order to adopt specific and functional solutions: • Changing rooms: sound absorbent panels in mineral wool are used in the false ceiling, resistant to humidity and they can be washed with high-pressure water jets.
• Entrance hall: mixed sound absorbent panels are used.
• Technical rooms: specific sound treatments are used.
• South border - along the road: a specific landscaping treatment is adopted (shaded rise protecting from the road noise).
Sustainability
The project choices have defined a sustainable project that communicates with the surrounding environment.
• Plenty of natural light for the natural heating and lighting in the indoor pool room, changing room and stand, thanks to large window areas to the south and glassed sheds on the roof.
• Landscaping along the edge of the lot protects the outdoor spaces from the winds, mainly from the north.
• The summer changing rooms are separate from the winter ones, to reduce consumption in terms of heating/lighting/ventilation during the winter
