Sports Centre in Paris by Think Tank Architecture

From coach house to metal workshop to sports centre – this describes the changes in use seen over the decades by the industrial hall in the rear yard of No. 37 Avenue du Docteur Arnold Netter in Paris. Until a few years ago, the Parisian Autonomous Transport Administration (RATP) used the building, which stands on the eastern side of the capital, for repairs to escalators and other equipment. The residential building on the road belongs to the enterprise as well. 

Club sports in the historic workshop building

RATP has now had the workshop updated by Think Tank Architecture and handed it over to an organization that it holds most dear: the Union Sportive Métropolitaine des Transports, which was established in 1928 and is called US Métro for short. This sports club offers RATP employees a broad range of athletic activities; moreover, 35 departments, about 4800 members, 34 full-time staff and 91 medallists from Olympic and Paralympic Games are numbers not to be sneezed at.

Two storeys and a sunroom

Since the conversion, the old workshop grounds have served US Métro as administrative headquarters and a martial-arts centre. The offices have been moved to a new extension in the inner courtyard, while the changing rooms and sports areas have been integrated over two levels in the industrial hall. 

Sports facilities

The ground floor is home to a fitness studio as well as areas for weightlifting and CrossFit plus the technical installations and two dressing rooms. The upper level features a dojo for Asian martial arts, a boxing gym and two further dressing rooms.

Climate buffer and meeting place alike

All these areas are arranged around a two-storey conservatory that acts as both a communicative space and a climate buffer. Trees add a touch of green, and skylights ensure adequate daylight and ventilation. In order to allow natural lighting in the sports rooms, the partition walls in the buildings – with a few obvious exceptions such as the dressing rooms and sanitary spaces – are extensively glazed. The imposing roof truss reminds users that they are working out in a venerable structure indeed. 

Facades of glass and polycarbonate

The architects have covered the roof and the closed facade surfaces with sheet metal of various profiles. Two materials alternate in the openings and make it easy to discern the climate concept. The areas connected to the conservatory, which are cooled passively, have a shell of corrugated polycarbonate panels. The heated rooms have conventional, floor-to-ceiling glazing that allows visitors to look deep inside the spaces behind the glass.