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Architects: meier + associés architectes
- Area: 3115 m²
- Year: 2012
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Photographs:Y André
Located off the A9 motorway at the Saint-Maurice exit, the competence centre for light to heavy vehicles hosts a diversified program. A control centre for heavy vehicles circulating on the Valais motorway network, and a vehicle storage area in case of bad weather on the mountain passes. Further to the activity, have been added a hall for vehicles periodic inspection from both categories running in the lower Valais, and a regional Police station.
The architectural bias proposed face a complex program, is a primarily a "ground project." Responding to the constraint of a compound circulation linked to the site various activities: a plate of bitumen clearly defines the artificial nature of the intervention within the landscape. Its shape is dictated by both the territorial boundaries and the function.
This exchange platform fits smoothly into the topography, revealing its landscape by some "folds." At his heart, several "flowers" echo the elements of nature, while substituing the role of the surface water soakaways.
On this mineral plate, the building gently alights as a metal and glass "petal" , topped with a thin vegetal overlay. The roof is expressed as a torn piece of natural soil rising above the new artificial ground. From the motorway, this reconstituted nature signs the new institution.
