Chatel-St-Denis Multi-Purpose Hall
Chatel-St-Denis, Switzerland
Located on a steep site at the developing edge of town, this building provides the community with a multi-functional gathering place for cultural, educational and recreational events, public or private. While the construction materials are typical for this alpine region of Switzerland, the shape of the roof takes its clue from the surrounding landscape morphology of rolling foothills. The transparency of the upper part of the building allows a continuum between hill and valley and connects it with the natural surroundings.
- 1993 Honorable Mention
Open Competition
$1.7 million, unbuilt
This multi-purpose village hall would be located at the developing edge of the community on a steep site beside a deep gorge that runs to Lake Geneva. A river flows adjacent to the site. Principal David Bushnell, AIA, proposed a village hall whose large, enveloping form honors the Swiss vernacular and uses construction materials typical for this alpine region.
The design is a strikingly modern interpretation, however. The transparency of the upper part of the building connects it to the natural surroundings, and an undulating roof responds to the distant mountains. The swell of this roofline gives dramatic form to the interior performance space, which was designed around both spatial and acoustical requirements. The design celebrates this space, which opens onto a large, podium terrace that also serves as a village gathering spot. Reinforcing the importance of this place to the people who live in it, the expansive entry and performance space take center stage. Sky-lighted service and office space is sited at a lower level that pushes into the adjacent hill.
Careful circulation planning provides for efficient pedestrian and vehicular access on the steeply sloping site. Precipitation on the roof moves into an unobtrusively placed cistern.
