Gymnasium near Paris by Ateliers O-S Architectes

The municipality of Le Plessis-Bouchard, northwest of Paris, is investing in education. In 2022, the new Marie Sklodowska-Curie secondary school, designed by the architectural firm TANK, was inaugurated. Now, the gymnasium designed by Ateliers O-S Architectes has also opened its doors. It is named after the French pilot and nurse Marie Marvingt.

Impressive concave curved glued laminated timber trusses support its roof. © Cyrille Weiner

The two new buildings face each other at the end of a cul-de-sac on the north-western edge of the village. Scattered detached houses are on one side, and open fields on the other. While the secondary school engages with its surroundings through two sweeping, flat wings, the sports hall presents itself as a largely closed wooden cube. Only the lower part of the facades is partially glazed, allowing views in and out.

© Cyrille Weiner

To the north, the new building borders the street; to the south, there is a running track and long jump pit. The building is divided into a higher section containing the gymnasium and a low-rise section containing changing rooms and ancillary rooms, which directly reflects the spatial programme. The single-storey building also incorporates a caretaker's apartment. The uniform horizontal wooden cladding of the facades is interrupted in the upper part by the occasional shading slat that conceals the gymnasium's high window band. Slim, vertical pilaster strips divide the facades. In the sports hall, impressive concave curved, glued laminated timber trusses support the roof. The interior design is simple and honest, with unclad OSB panels, unplastered concrete block masonry, strip parquet flooring and trapezoidal sheet metal ceilings.