Football Training Center

The setting up of a training center has opened up a dialogue between domesticated nature, artificially represented by football pitches, and the untamed greenery on the banks of the River Selle. The project is divided into two parts housed on two storeys. On the first floor there is accommodation for the trainees, offices and training spaces. On the ground floor there are dressing rooms, a medical unit, services, and spacious activity halls. The siting of the project on its plot has led us to design a building with two facades, with the riverside elevation being used for inward-looking features. The pitch-side elevation is an exercise in continuity: the cloak of turf is folded and curved to cover the building. The ground floor walls are mainly glazed to ensure that the greenery outside is clearly visible from inside.

Karine Chartier (1968) graduated at the School of Architecture Paris-La Villette in 1995 after a DEFA at the School of Architecture of Nantes. Thomas Corbasson (1968) graduated at the School of Architecture Paris La Villette in 1996 after a DEFA at the School of Architecture of Lille. Both have spent a year at the École Polytechnique in Barcelona (Erasmus 1993/94). They have a independent activity of architects since 1999. Projects 2002: Study for the proposed development of the RN2 in urban boulevard, Aulnay sous-Bois. Draft design for a permanent exhibition at the Palais de la Découverte (Paris). Conversion of a commercial housing, Paris. Realization of an exhibition for interactive model (General Council of Seine-Saint-Denis). www.chartier-corbasson.com