MAISON DES ASSOCIATIONS
SAINT ROMANS LES MELLE (Deux-Sèvres)
1994-1995
Architect : Herve BEAUDOUIN
photo : Herve BEAUDOUIN et Jean-Marie Monthiers

Saint Romans Les Melle village is exceptional. The absolutely well-preserved site is hilly. Ancient masonry is particularly rich even in the most unpretentious buildings. One of the finest elements in the village is a sumptuous little Roman church situated in a small valley.
Any new « contribution » should therefore be carefully considered in order to fit into the outstanding surrounding area. The architecture as well as the arrangement of the building has been thoughtfully designed to deal with a certain number of constraints.
Several squares, simply planted with grass, called « plans » are scattered around the village. We chose to build the hall on the main « plan » rather than on other outlying spots. Besides, the old dilapidated hall used to be on that particular square so the utility of the place has been preserved.
This is a very important facility for the village’s life and is part of the already existing amenities nearby: a shop, a café, a restaurant, the post-office and the town hall. It is also a way to fill the need in parking spaces without having to build a car park which could spoil the landscape.
The square is delicate, the architectural object has to be plain, archetypal, unitarian. The circle shape is a dense compact shape that lessens the impact on the scenery. The building was designed following an extremely simple geometric pattern. The hall, made of an oblong block, is surrounded by annexes in the shape of a cylinder.
Daylight is brought in through skydomes equipped with electric blinds.
A simple architecture, a long-lasting architecture. The architectural object has to be as plain as what was found in Roman architecture and not be a frail, short-lived one. It must be as timeless as possible. We therefore chose to favour walls, partitions and big flats.
The choosing of materials is essential. They must be plain and long-lasting. Architecture has to deal with the patina of age. We therefore decided to use exclusively natural materials for the outside of the building to guarantee a patina that fits into the existing village. Without being regionalistic, the building is directly linked to the local building customs.
The hall’s walls are chestnut-panelled and the cylinder’s walls are made of stones coming from local ruins. The walls were built with raw stones : they weren’t washed beforehand, the old patina thus remaining visible.