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Le Tronchet’s municipality wanted to enhance its existing town hall dating back to the 19th-century building and located on the edge of a river. The project met three key challenges: the need to rehabilitate and renovate a deteriorating historic building, to provide functional spaces adapted to users and, finally, to create a new focal point in the town center by bringing together three municipal services in the same location.
The project is in the town center and creates a window onto the street, while accompanying the pathway to the central square created at the back. The site topography was significant. The design of the forecourt connects all the nearby community facilities, including the market hall, the bakery, the landscaped auditorium, the town hall annex and a path leading to a public school. The extension is set back from the existing town hall and is designed to enhance the surrounding space, transforming each facade into a main facade. Its contemporary architecture creates a dialogue with the old building, distinguishing it with a dynamic yet timeless vision. The challenge was taken up, and the facility has become a real vector of social cohesion, serving as a hub for meetings and exchanges.
Both the rehabilitation and the construction were carefully designed to respect the existing historic architectural style. Each proposal is imagined ensuring quality, ease of use, and an appropriate contextual integration. The renovation also includes a thermic reassessment to improve energy efficiency. We were keen to offer high-quality interior spaces to cater and suit everyone. The chosen materials are part of an environmental approach, promoting sustainability for both people and the planet. Throughout the project, a clean worksite charter was implemented that focuses on waste management, noise reduction and the durability of the structures created, both in terms of their use, maintenance, and potential future deconstruction and re-use.
As an archipelago consisting of the town hall, library and post office, the flow of people becomes a central axis. The project brings together three entities that are essential to the town’s life: the town hall, the municipal library and the post office. The existing walls are made of stone, the frame is wood, and the roof is slate. The single-story extension uses light brick cladding to establish dialogue and distinction, enveloping the old building. The extension is set back from the existing town hall, enhancing the surroundings and transforming each facade into a main facade. The interiors spaces have different floor covering depending on their use: porcelain stoneware for the reception areas of the post office and town hall, carpet for the office’s areas and library, and wooden floor for the official rooms of the town hall. The mastery of the chosen materials ensured their perfect execution on site. The light monochrome cladding is composed of two different finishes. The glazed terracotta brick cladding adds luminosity to the extension’s facades, with a custom-designed pattern on each facade. The contrast in colors between the light-colored extension and the stone of the existing building enhances both.
The project received public subsidies, which have punctuated the development of the various phases. Gant applications are subject to a strict timetable that must be respected. The project owner was flexible about the projected schedule. As the existing structure could not be preserved due of the humidity, it affected the initial schedule. However, we were able to react quickly and complete the project in line with the initial budget and the client’s expectations.
Atelier L2 was founded in 2013 by Julie de Legge and Pierre Lelièvre in Rennes, France. The projects are diverse, ranging from collective housing to public buildings, from new constructions to rehabilitation.
The studio places a strong emphasis on experimenting a sensitive and cohesive approach to projects combining architecture and scenography through an interdisciplinary understanding. Each project is seen as an opportunity to highlight the unique qualities of the surroundings, as well as the specific needs and aspirations of the client. To achieve this, Atelier L2 develops tailored proposals that prioritize quality, used comfort and context-sensitive integration. The studio aims to transform constraints into programmatic, technical, regulatory or environmental advantages. Consequently, Atelier L2 approaches each project by establishing straightforward guidelines rooted in common sense, ensuring they align the program, site and users.
