There was no ambiguity about the client`s requirement: the project was to be "traditional" in nature, bearing in mind that what is considered to be traditional Alpine architecture these days is in fact a kitsch mixture of a wide variety of regional styles. We hesitated a long time before accepting the conditions of the commission, which was totally outside our normal fields of interest. Rather than running away, we finally decided to tackle these questions of kitsch and décor head-on. They are the reality of contemporary building in the mountains, to the point that even the modern and functionalist architecture of ski resorts is gradually being dressed with stone and timber cladding.

Like many winter sports resorts built in the 1960s, the Les 2 Alpes ski station has identity problems: large buildings put up with no overall design rationale, chaotic relationship with the landscape... The mountains are now looking for a new image to counter the expressions of a sometimes excessive modernity. They want to return to their roots.

Our project for the cultural and sports centre is an experiment in divergence from the archetypal language of the chalet: because of regulatory requirements, the project is contained within a basic rectangular structure with dual-section roofs, like a barn. The building is a telescopic structure split into 3 nested sections – the sports hall, the hall and a communal spaces, the theatre – with both walls and roof entirely faced with wood.
Wood is used here as a cultural referent for the mountains. The timber motif came into traditional regional architecture with the invention of the band saw. It is on the rise again because of the development of automatic cutting systems and computer-controlled cutting. Reflecting the return to popularity of this technique, the whole height of the sports hall is covered with a timber lacework based on a motif copied from the guard rails of an old chalet. The pattern, enlarged and multiplied to form a regular grid, changes its status and becomes a repetitive, abstract composition.

The wall of the performance hall is faced with narrow, unjointed wooden strips, with their edges cut at an angle to prevent water accumulating. The name of the facility is burnt directly onto this cladding – another old technique very much in fashion today, recruited into the language of modernity.

Inside the sports hall and the communal spaces, the walls and ceilings are faced with boards, some of them in natural wood and others painted in several colours, in order to generate a sort of "dyeing” effect. The gable walls of the gymnasium are made of natural sand concrete, set with multiple climbing holds in the same range of colours as used for the boards.
The performance hall, with its black painted concrete walls and ceilings, is topped with a large red snowflake-shaped chandelier, which provides both light for the audience and acoustic correction.

2002

2005