Community hall, Beynes

  • Prize
    Honorable Mention in Architectural Design / Mixed-Use building
  • Design Company
    GRAAL ARCHITECTURE SARL
  • Lead Designer
    ARCHITECTURE GRAAL
  • Design Team
    Hamac, Atelier Masse, Sunsquare, Atelier climatique, Slam
  • Architecture Firm
    GRAAL ARCHITECTURE
  • Construction Company
    Domatech
  • Photo Credit
    Maxime Verret
  • Project Location
    Beynes (France)
  • Client
    City of Beynes
  • Project Date
    2023

Nestled in the great landscape of the Mauldre valley, the new Beynes community hall has become a central element of this small town with its satellite hamlets.
Implanted in an autonomous plot of land away from any urbanization, the building acts as a delicate intermediary between the domestic scale of its close context made of suburban areas and the scale of the large agricultural landscape, woven together by large infrastructures.
Three different materials make up the building: a mass-tinted concrete base to anchor the built volume to the ground; five-ply wood panels as a transitional element between interior and exterior; metal sheeting as an aerial element that dialogues with the sky and the great landscape.

Bio
Graal is an agency founded by Carlo Grispello and Nadine Lebeau, dedicated to architecture and urban strategies, which strives to give precedence to the economy of the project, constructive logics and materiality in the development of their undertakings. Their projects develop, through a sober and objective approach, in order to give a true place to the role of the territorial survey, the public dimension and uses. Graal aspires to render the specificities of a place and a commission through a language that is non-decisive, independent and concerned with responding to contemporary issues.

Other prizes
Dezeen Award 2021 (selection) The Plan Award 2021 (selection) AZ Award 2021 (finalist) Archello, Top 10 concrete projects of 2020 (selection) D’A, Prix 10+1 (selection) Choiseul City of Tomorrow (selection) Italian Architect Prize 2017, (selection) Trophées Logement & Territoires 2017, (finalist) Architizer A+Awards 2017 (finalist) The Plan Award 2017, (finalist) Europe 40 Under 40 Awards 2016 (awarded) Europe’s Emerging Young Architects and Designers, (awarded) ArchiDesignClub Awards 2016, (awarded) Building of the Year Awards 2016 Archidaily, (selection)