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Thionville Multipurpose Sports Complex / Dominique Coulon & associés

Pilar Caballero — Mon, 23 Mar 2026 12:00:00 +0000

Our task here was to create a contemporary space within an existing one that dates back to 1960. The town's municipal gymnasium and theatre formed a historical whole, but the site's sports facilities needed to be modernized to host major competitions and cultural events. A desire for architectural coherence and respect for the existing built heritage guided our approach. So, we preserved the stone wall that gave visual structure to the whole site and that now serves as a link between periods of time. We also kept the original entrance portico, which remains the landmark it always has been for the town's inhabitants. The forms of the gymnasium's facade were borrowed from those of the existing theatre. With its tall, vertical openings and its solid sections alternating with glazed portions, this sports center – called "le SPOT" (for "le Site Polyvalent Omnisport de Thionville") – extends the theatre as if the two buildings were created at the same time and as if the new edifice were honouring the site's heritage while placing it firmly in modernity.

Franche-Comté Advanced School of Engineering / Dominique Coulon & associés

Pilar Caballero — Wed, 14 Jan 2026 12:00:00 +0000

The engineering school lies on the Bouloie-Temis campus in Besançon, France, in parallel to the road that runs up its biggest slope. The positioning of the spaces built creates the major advantage of being absorbed by a small listed wood, which forges a close relationship between the rooms and the trees, which are very near to the elevations.

Multi-Childcare Crèche / Dominique Coulon & associés

Pilar Caballero — Wed, 02 Apr 2025 07:00:00 +0000

This structure resembles a giant sculpture placed in the town. Its layout is made up of abstract spaces. The building has pink and orange elevations for the neighbouring dwellings to admire. With its austere lines, the edifice fits into its urban environment harmoniously. The colourful base that underpins the building is crowned with a series of white geometric spaces. Their bright silhouettes stand out against the blue sky. They contain double-height spaces that punctuate the ground floor.

Saint-Jean-de-Luz Cultural Center / Dominique Coulon & associés

Andreas Luco — Fri, 28 Feb 2025 10:00:00 +0000

The environment in which this cultural centre emerged is both magnificent and complex. The building enjoys splendid views of Saint-Jean-de-Luz Bay, only 500 metres away. The structure is not considered a single unit, but rather a series of fragments in which the different functions of the architectural programme are based. This spatial principle reflects the site's dimensions. It made it possible to freely play around with the sizes of the building's different parts and to reach the right balance.

Cultural Centre in Bourg-la-Reine / Dominique Coulon & associés

Valeria Silva — Thu, 09 Jan 2025 12:00:00 +0000

The Cultural Centre in Bourg-la-Reine lies on a narrow plot right next to a high embankment upon which a regional trainline runs. This plot is L-shaped and leads out onto a small road hidden away. To build a public centre, such a plot seemed far from ideal. So building an edifice on this plot called for a design with which the structure could stand out as a public building and find a legitimate place between the vegetation-covered embankment and the neighbouring homes.

Antipode Music, Youth and Cultural Center / Dominique Coulon & associés

Paula Pintos — Wed, 21 Jun 2023 03:00:00 +0000

The cultural hub Antipode is constructed in the new concerted development zone of the eco-district of La Courrouze, two kilometers away from the historic center of Rennes with very good tramways and soft mobility connections. Urban planners Secchi and Vigano organized various programs like large islets flooded by vegetation. The site is a vast territory on which were historically armament factories. To make its memory last, some walls have been preserved as well as large trees that punctuate the horizon.

Simone Veil Group of Schools in Villejuif / Dominique Coulon & associés

Paula Pintos — Sun, 29 Jan 2023 21:00:00 +0000

This group of schools is part of the response to the shortage of school premises in the center and northern parts of the town of Villejuif, on the outskirts of Paris. The reservoir site where it is located is exceptional in the town, on two counts: it is protected from sound disturbance, and it has a number of large trees in addition to its water feature.

Moulon Group of Schools / Dominique Coulon & associés

Paula Pintos — Tue, 29 Nov 2022 06:00:00 +0000

Working on the master plan drawn up by the agency XDGA and landscape designer Michel Desvignes in this dynamic of urban renewal with a strong identity provided an opportunity for an extremely stimulating experience for us.