Market Hall near Strasbourg

DETAIL 12.2019

Editeur : DETAIL
Date de parution : 12/2019
ISSN : 0011-9571/B 2772
Nombre de pages : 117

Renovate, Expand or Reconstruct?

"Beneath the broad roof of the elaborately refurbished Halles du Scilt in Schiltigheim, 2 km north of the centre of Strasbourg, a market, an arts centre and a cafe are now to be found. Originally, the building housed a distillery. This was followed by the local butchers’ cooperative and then by an exhibition gallery, before the structure was finally closed for ten years for safety reasons. The present rehabilitation of the hall is meant to con- tribute to the revitalization of the historic city centre. In its external form, the building has remained more or less unchanged, although the ground floor now opens on to the sur- roundings at the two gable ends in the form of large areas of glazing and entrance doors. A public passageway links the western forecourt with the Place de la Liberté to the rear. Lined up along one side of this “Rue intérieur” are new butcher’s and fish shops. The space opposite these is reserved for art and extends up to the roof on both sides of the hall in the form of an open gallery storey. These levels are linked by a long central void, where two white cubic volumes for special uses are cantile- vered out over the access strip, interlocking the floors spatially. Of the existing building fabric, it was possible to retain only sections of the two gable end walls and the four parallel long walls on the ground floor. These were strengthened with rein- forced concrete at various points in order to bear the loads of the gallery storey. At the top is a simple timber pitched roof structure, the vertical clerestory strips of which reflect the geometry of the original construction and allow daylight into the interior. The rough surface texture of the brick walling, with the additional areas of concrete, was left exposed and forms a con- trast to the smooth white gypsum plasterboard on the upper floor and in the roof. Old and new merge with each other, while nevertheless remaining perceptible to the observant visitor in an attractive way."