Cabourg, France
Led by Lemoal Lemoal Architectes the new Gonzague Saint Bris has been driven by the mayor of Cabourg, whose aim was to group the city’s cultural and social services on a single site.
The project was recently awarded with a 2020 International Architecture Award from The Chicago Athenaeum and The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies.
The architects wished to offer both an urban response by revitalizing a formerly isolated lot and a long term solution by employing local skills as well as local materials.
The lot designated for the city’s social and cultural center was isolated, its location removed from the flow of the street.
From the outset, this posed a problem for the project’s visibility and access to the site.
To underscore the public purpose of this facility, the architects chose to reorganize the street plan by broadly opening the site to the city, creating a link between city center and the residential district to the north.
Pedestrian cross traffic is encouraged by the creation of a new public plaza.
The development is divided into two identical L-shaped buildings that define a central public square, which allows a new pedestrian link between the city center and the residential area.
The buildings are inspired by Norman traditional architecture: tiled peaked roof, timber frame, and elongated shape.
The continuous tiled envelope of the building highlights the project. This technical achievement results from the association of the architects with local makers.
This technical achievement results from the association of the architects with local makers.
The buildings are a contemporary interpretation of the solidity of this archetypal construction, with their optimized and exposed wooden frames.
Project: Civic and Cultural Centre Gonzague Saint Bris
Architects: Lemoal Lemoal Architectes
Client: Mairie de Cabourg
General Contractor: Terreal
Landscape Architects: Snetsa
Photographers: Javier Callejas and Elodie Dupuis
