Aube is a territory resolutely turned towards high-level sport. With the Paris 2024 Games approaching, the state Department is committed to convince the sports delegations to choose Aube to prepare for the competition in the best possible conditions and at the gateway to Paris. The Mathaux water sports base is the new ideal training camp for rowing and in-line canoeing, on the banks of the Temple lake, in the heart of the Orient Forest Regional Nature Park.
Regional
France
Aube, Orient Forest Regional Nature Park
Mainly rural
It refers to a physical transformation of the built environment (hard investment)
No
No
Yes
2022-09-30
As an individual
First name: Natalina Last name: da Costa Gender: Female Nationality: France If relevant, please select your other nationality: Portugal Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: 25 rue de Preize Town: Troyes Postal code: 10000 Country: France Direct Tel:+33 6 50 02 69 32 E-mail:dacosta@herard-dacosta.com Website:https://herard-dacosta.com
The Mathaux water sports base project arose from the need for new facilities for the CNACK (Club Nautique Aubois Canoë Kayak). With this new equipment, the Departmental Council is able to offer a water sports base for the training of athletes participating in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. The building offers the best conditions for sports practice in a privileged landscape setting on the shores of the Grand Lakes of the Orient Forest. As this is a Natura 2000 site, the project has sought to minimise the impact of the building on the site. Firstly, its presence in the landscape is discreet. The building is set below the street level, so as not to interrupt the view of the lake from the road. The fully vegetated roof provides a foreground to this landscape. The building is built on piles, the foundations are punctual and the routes are limited and framed so as to minimise the impact of the activity on the fauna and flora. The steel structure is entirely dismountable and recyclable, the walls are made of bio-sourced materials, a wooden framework filled with wood wool insulation. The terracing is superficial so as not to impact the topography of the land. The paths in enriched gravel are permeable and rainwater is directed towards gently sloping ditches that favor biodiversity.
Zone Natura 2000
Parc Naturel Régional de la Forêt d'Orient
Les Grands lacs de la Forêt d'Orient
Paris Olympic Games 2024
Canoeing Kayak
The environmental approach to the studies was to take advantage of the site analysis:
- the existing access along the street which could be restructured to create a road for lightweight vehicles with minimal earthworks.
- The land is slightly sloping with a gradient of approximately 2%, which facilitates shallow terracing to create the road and car park without altering the topography of the site;
- The land is located at a lower level, which ensures that the building is partially hidden by the slope of the terrain and just above the maximum operating level of the Lac du Temple;
- The project is located at the same level as the existing ground, which limits excavation work;
- The nature of the land is very impermeable, with a clay base, limiting infiltration in depth;
- the vegetation of the lake banks, such as reed beds and willows, to be preserved for the pontoon.
The project is placed in the ground as close as possible to the natural ground and the current topography. The building is therefore situated below the street, allowing a view from this street of just a "vegetated patch" lifted from the ground with the building just below it set back. This location allows the building to be "discreetly" inserted into this site assuming a contemporary architecture.
For the roof, the "5th façade" of the building, which will be clearly visible from Caron Street, we have installed a green roof to integrate the building into its site. The roof will be planted with low-maintenance and hardy plants such as sedums and aromatic perennials: Prunella vulgaris, Achillea millefolium, Hieracum SP and Allium Schoenoprasum. Following the installation of this roof, we optimized the building's summer comfort, but also the treatment of rainwater by on-site infiltration with a surface infiltration channel at the bottom of the slope that also treats the run-off water from the slope.
The building has a single ground floor, ensuring full accessibility to all parts.
A parking space reserved for persons with reduced mobility is located next to the building's entrance, and is marked on the ground with a regulatory sign. The external flooring is slightly sloped to ensure the drainage of rainwater, while guaranteeing the regulatory gradients with a maximum of 2% in both longitudinal and transverse directions.
The main access level to the building is accessible in continuity with the external pathway which is also accessible. The internal horizontal circulation is accessible and safe for physically and mentally handicapped people. The main structural elements of the pathway are identifiable by people with visual impairments. Disabled people can access and leave all the facilities available to the public independently. For example, they can access the terrace from the building and then go to the pontoon for canoeing or kayaking.
The quality of the lighting, artificial and/or natural of the interior and exterior walkways is treated without creating visual disturbance. For those parts of the pathway which may cause loss of balance for disabled people, the access devices and information provided by the signage are subject to an enhanced lighting quality.
If a lighting system has a time delay, it is switched off gradually. In the case of presence detection, the detection covers the entire area concerned and in the case of two successive detection zones, these overlap. The light points have been designed to avoid any direct glare for both standing and seated users or reflections on the signage.
In the management of the activity, we developed a building on stilts so that the sportsmen and women, once they have arrived at the site's car park, enter the building directly to change and then go to practice their sports activity directly to the terrace and the pontoon. With this architecture, which is slightly raised from the ground, we are seeking to reduce the possibility of walking in the natural areas surrounding the building and therefore to limit the impact of the activity on the wildlife. As a result, the flow of sportsmen and women is clearly directed and controlled in the areas provided for this purpose.
We want users to know about the beauty of their natural heritage but to respect it and have made every effort to ensure that they can do so when they use our building.
Several years ago, the Department of Aube initiated a number of projects aimed at reinforcing the quality of the offer and therefore the attractiveness of the department in terms of sports, and particularly water sports.
In conjunction with the departmental committees, a study has been underway for more than ten years on the construction of a sports building for rowing and canoeing on the Temple lake, with secure storage for boats and the possibility of accommodating associated technical premises. This building, whose activity is linked to the practice of water sports, must imperatively be located in the immediate vicinity of the Temple lake.
The desire of the departmental committees concerned to host training delegations, particularly in the context of the Olympic Games to be held in Paris in 2024, has led to the Department of Aube taking on the management of the above-mentioned construction. Designed in conjunction with the sports community, the investment will be a valuable legacy for local sports and an element of sustainable attractiveness for the region.
This facility, should be delivered by 2022 at the latest, will be fully in line with the regional strategy developed for the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games and the Aube Department's application for the two labels "Land of Games" and "Games Preparation Centre" developed by the Organizing Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games (COJOP).
For the structural design of the building and in view of the geotechnical composition of the soil, we studied a "light" architecture on the site by putting in place a metal structure limiting the load drops and absorbing the slight movements of the soil following the swelling of the clay. The collaboration with structural engineers has been crucial.
The choice of the plant species for the green roof was important to create harmony with the local vegetation. The landscaper's contribution to this aspect was outstanding.
The knowledge and experience of the technical staff of the Parc Naturel Régional de la Fôret d'Orient helped us a lot in the process of designing and implementing the project.
Exchanges with athletes practicing rowing and canoeing disciplines were also a very important input to this project.
Following the project studies, the design of the building will allow for a dry construction site with a lot of prefabrication limiting the duration of the construction and the nuisance to the wildlife on the site.
This project is part of an initiative launched by the department and the municipalities of Aube, with the aim of providing preparation centres for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Athletes can benefit from very high-level facilities. In addition to the diversity and quality of these sports facilities, Aube is a department located less than two hours from Paris and is easily accessible. In spite of the economic benefits, the presence of high-level athletes will raise the level of sport locally. It is also an opportunity to promote cultural diversity through this international exchange.
Following the project studies, the design of the building will allow for a dry construction site with a lot of prefabrication limiting the duration of the construction and the nuisance to the wildlife on the site.
Through this rational constructional approach, we also limited the impact of the foundations on the site, which remain only punctual and could easily be removed in the event of deconstruction and revalued. This constructive principle means that the soil under the building is not really waterproofed and the impact on the ecosystem is significantly limited.
Following this structural choice for the building, we studied a solution of wooden frame walls with the incorporation of natural wood wool insulation. The whole complex will be clad with a flat ventilated black mastic cladding.
During our visit to the site, we were able to appreciate the landscape on the edge of the Lac du Temple with its preserved natural space. The site is a slightly sloping meadow where the building and its external fittings will be located. A reed bed borders the lake with a few willows and then it is low water with a lunar surface. After this bank, there is the water, the lake, the neighboring bank and the sky, all in a tone of brown, green and blue.
In this context, we wish to provide an architectural response, representative and respectful of its environment with constructive provisions bringing a minimal impact on the site. We will consider a light construction (metal or wood frame) limiting the load bearing capacity and therefore the size of the foundations, which will be only punctual in order to limit their impact on the site.
Designing the exteriors to treat rainwater by surface infiltration by digging infiltration ditches and by creating vegetated parking spaces. These infiltration systems promote biodiversity of wildlife on sites with the creation of wetland ditches.
The use of non-invasive building systems with punctual structures that permit the reversibility of the soil so that it can become fertile again. The choice of building materials that can be easily reused and recycled. The use of bio-sourced materials that reduce the global stock of CO2 in the atmosphere.
Proposing dry construction systems, with a lot of prefabrication limiting the duration of the construction and the nuisance on the sites.
These are construction methods that require a more skilled workforce and know-how. People who have less arduous working conditions because they are assisted by machines in the warehouse and are less exposed to the weather conditions.
During our visit to the site, we were able to appreciate the landscape on the shores of the Lac du Temple with its preserved natural space. The site is a slightly sloping meadow where the building and its external fittings will be located. A reed bed borders the lake with a few willows and then it is low water with a lunar surface. After this bank, there is the water, the lake, the neighboring bank and the sky, all in a tone of brown, green and blue.
In this context, we wished to provide an architectural response, representative and respectful of its environment with constructive provisions bringing a minimal impact on the site. We considered a light construction (metal and wood frame) limiting the load bearing capacity and therefore the size of the foundations, which will be only punctual in order to limit their impact on the site. This building will allow the socio-cultural enhancement of a natural site protected by a reasoned and respectful frequentation. The local population usufructs and valorises the richness of its territory as a real ecological, sociological and economic asset.
