The Guy Môquet, designed by OECO Architects

PROJECT BRIEF

The Guy Môquet space is a mixed facility of 1700 m² that includes a leisure centre, a dance hall and collective accommodation to welcome associations visiting the region or artists in residence, for example.

Cabestany town council's ambition was to create an attractive building to attract young children and teenagers during the extra-curricular periods. The different entities are connected but must also function independently.

Architectural Features

The OECO ARCHITECTES agency has imagined a volumetry which superimposes the programmes thanks to half-levels visible from the central atrium. An external staircase and terraces provide access to all floors.

Compact and embedded in the ground, the structure frees up outdoor spaces. This public building is located next to a storm basin and in a heterogeneous urban context. It is a pivotal point between all these varied fabrics and is subtly integrated into the environment. Recognizable by its multiple concrete facets, without being too demonstrative, this structural and monolithic "stylized rock" is the new signal of this city entrance, which has been somewhat neglected until now.

It is pierced by multiple openings to let in natural light according to needs and uses.

-The dance hall benefits from northern light through a GEODE curtain wall more than 6 m wide and 3 m high. This large frame is cut into three by thin aluminium profiles, like a triptych praising the surrounding landscape. It is illuminated at nightfall and reveals its poetry from the outside. An XXL AMBIAL folding door with almost identical dimensions echoes this glass wall. Children and teachers can enjoy the terrace, which opens up completely as soon as the first rays of sunshine appear.

-The leisure centre is spread over the three lower half levels. It is an open space around a hall, which can be easily rearranged according to the activities with the help of removable partitions. It is fitted with large 3.20 m high SOLEAL fixed units/doors.

The collective accommodation on the ground and third floors has 6 dormitories with SOLEAL tilt-and-turn windows to facilitate ventilation. The common room has an 11m wide glazed unit, consisting of two large sliding windows, fixed frames and a SOLEAL door. It allows the occupants to enjoy the terrace on the top level, which overlooks and contemplates the Canigou in the distance, sheltered from the Tramontane.

The OECO Architects agency chose TECHNAL aluminium joinery because of its slim mass views, which blend in with the concrete of the envelope. Their natural anodised aluminium appearance blends delicately with the beige concrete colour and the wooden underside. Raw, robust and durable materials.

All the products are made by Hydro CIRCAL. Hydro CIRCAL is a range of prime quality aluminium made with a minimum of 75% recycled end-of-life aluminium (post-consumer scrap). Hydro CIRCAL also has one of the smallest CO2 footprint worldwide: 2,3 kg CO2 per kilo of aluminium – 4,5 times less than the world global primary average.