EURALILLE ATHLETIC CLUB

Location: Lille, France 

Type: Renovation

Team: Marcos Escamilla-Guerrero

Status: Idea

Year: 2022

The Euralille Athletic Club is a proposal of threefold: the transition from locomotive movement to human movement, the adaptation of the proposed programs to the current carpark’s rigid conditions, and the activation of all levels through the presence of natural light. We believe the future of carparks calls for a metamorphosis in the subject of movement. Carparks are no longer adequate in addressing the current built environment by only providing storage for machines and should focus more on human and fitness. In our proposal, the imposition of sports venues such as running paths and bicycle lanes represents the hope of the initializing the change of movement. Secondly, while analyzing the composition of the building, we identified a present grid provided for the means of egress and the circulation of the carpark. We decided to introduce our proposed program within a 9-square order that emerged from the components. Delicate attention was placed on existing structural elements, then we adapted the sports which resulted in an innovative layout for these activities. Lastly, we learned that, historically, underground parking was intended for preserving public spaces above ground in Europe. With that notion, our proposal aims to reverse the desolate spatial quality of underground parking by bringing natural daylight and fresh air into the Euralille complex. We strongly believe that these three aspects of intervention will provide human energy to a building meant for machines.