Pierre-Paul Bernard Stadium

Project description

Standardization of the entire site dedicated to athletics and football for regional and national competitions.

Retracing the origins of the historical architectural design
The initial idea is to reconnect with the founding architectural and landscaping principles of the site at the time of its creation. The overall concept for the outdoor spaces of the Thouars sports and leisure park is to re-establish the pedestrian circulation that existed in 1976, while making it clearer, thus facilitating the orientation of pedestrians and the internal connections between the elements of the park (stadium and Administrative and Sports Center).

Respecting and reinforcing the remarkable landscape setting of the stadium
The stadium benefits from a verdant and intimate setting due to its location within a basin, overshadowed by the canopy of trees in the Thouars woods. This position provides the site with a particularly calming atmosphere, which the project aims to preserve and enhance.

The new building: the Administrative and Sports Center
The focal point of the site, which combines various functions. A hub of life with a restaurant and a social hall, a dojo with tatami mats, a gym, and an indoor training field. The two entities can function autonomously, but can also operate simultaneously during major events, complementing each other (such as DECASTAR). A large number of their facilities are shareable, notably the locker rooms, hall, restaurant, and gym. 

The building is designed along two perpendicular axes. One follows the axis of the tennis courts, including the covered court and the one that will soon be covered, while the other follows the transverse axis of the stadium. The other volumes, gradually smaller from the dojo to the office and dining spaces, feature curved façades, harmonized with the forms of the green spaces and the athletics stadium.
The choice of Corten steel for the curved façades facing the stadium and wood for the long south-facing façade of the hall and its east gable seemed like an obvious one, given the vegetal ambiance.