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Gathering place for festivities and celebrations in the village life, the community hall is situated on the outskirts of the town, overlooking the Vaud plain and the Alps on the horizon.
The architecture retains the angle of the old building in its layout, but differs in its new geometry: a simple, compact volume, a 16×16-metre square.
The roof, with its four identical slopes, gives the building the appearance of being low-rise whilst maximising the interior space with a generous ceiling height.
A simple volume for a space that brings people together.
Set back from the road, the building gives way to a large entrance forecourt and opens up a view of the oak tree at the edge of the site. A path to the east leads to the local youth centre, situated in the lower, semi-underground, mineral, as well as to a covered area for passing walkers.
The ground floor plan is organised symmetrically. Facing outwards from the village, the south-west corner is completely opened up by large bay windows and is flanked by a generous walkway, providing the hall with both ample natural light and a privileged view of the landscape. A roof overhang covers the walkway and provides physical protection from the sun during the summer months.
On the opposite side lies a technical layer with the facilities necessary for the hall’s operation. There, along the east façade, the kitchen occupies a central position and opens onto the main room with the bar, whilst the auxiliary areas – toilets and storage – are integrated at each end.
The structure of the main room is timber-framed, with no load-bearing elements in its centre, allowing for a high degree of flexibility in the layout.
The façade is clad in successive layers of Eternit panels, refined by vertical metal lines in its upper section, which amplify the impression of the building’s low height. These heights from the exterior design are echoed in the layout of the interior joinery, thereby visually linking the spatial organisation and the function of the hall.
With its large windows and overhanging roof, the community hall has the appearance of a pavilion. Off-centre and eccentric in its expression, it breathes new life into the village’s social and cultural landscape whilst incorporating the territory’s main landscape lines into its design. Meticulously constructed and designed down to the last detail, it reveals a great spatial simplicity, a guarantee of timeless flexibility.
