The operation prides itself on an unvarnished geometry, resonating with the rigor of Fort l'Ecluse, cut to withstand the harshest winters. The delicate conditions of the site, in the heart of a high hilltop fort, have led to prefabrication and the notion of a dry site being favored.
Description of project by Atelier PNG
This is a new story for Fort L'Ecluse, rebuilt on itself, and a second life for the stones. A strong emotional bond binds the inhabitants of the country of Gex to their fort. This living, destroyed, rebuilt, enlarged territory has often changed its use. If today it is associated with landscape and civil engineering, the gabion is also intimately linked to military architecture. Using it again, in a tourist promotion operation, is to bring this operation into resonance with the rock, the site, and the structure. To use dry masonry, the very material of the site made of deconstructed stones, is to satisfy a desire for harmlessness.
A fort rebuilt on itself
Built-in the 17th century on the borders of the country of Gex, the territory of the fort and the fort itself is alive. Their uses oscillate according to periods of war and peace, between a landscape asset and a military jewel. Atelierpng questions the nature of the structures and their dating, seizes on them to integrate as well as possible into the successive historical layers of this imposing construction, in the rock of the Jura.
A fort to see the landscape and history
Historically housed on the side of a hill, to better see the arrival of the enemy, the fort today shows an exceptional landscape: the banks of the Rhône, the massifs of the Ain, and those of Haute-Savoie. The upgrading of the fort tells the military history of the place, its architecture and materials, and its unique position anchored in the massif.
Requalify reception areas
The first intervention is the requalification of reception areas, on the ground floor of one of the casemates. Without disturbing the rigor of the skillfully cut stone that makes up the identity of the fort, the architect's choice fell on the measured installation of metallic elements that fit into the vaults and withstand particularly difficult climatic conditions.
Reinvest in the casemate
A restaurant welcomes visitors wishing to stop in the vaulted space of the casemate. This is indirectly lit to highlight the roughness of the rock.
A new vertical circulation
The new vertical circulation of the fort can be seen from the entrance to the Porte de France to the seasoned eye, while it is clearly shown from the high interior courtyard.
Frame views
The operation prides itself on an unvarnished geometry, resonating with the rigor of Fort l'Ecluse, cut to withstand the harshest winters. The loopholes negotiated between the gabions frame views towards the environment, both landscape, and military.
The gabion, an evidence
The most visible intervention, the vertical circulation is carried out in gabion chosen for its indestructible material link with the Lock fort, patiently built in the rock of the Jura. The galvanized steel cages were filled exclusively with the products of demolition linked to the intervention, in a virtuous recycling logic.
The gabion is intimately linked to military architecture. It can be found in military treaties from the 16th century and in particular that of Vauban, the mastermind of General Haxo, builder of the Lock fort. Originally made of a woven wicker basket filled with rubble, it absorbed bullets and splinters until WWI. It was replaced by its modern version invented by the Italian boilermaker Gaetano Maccaferri, who in 1893 replaced the cage of rigid and stainless steel wires for the wicker and the rubble with pebbles with controlled grain sizes.
A dry site
The delicate conditions of the site, in the heart of a high hilltop fort, have led to prefabrication and the notion of a dry site being favored. The cuts and removals necessary for the installation of the structure were carried out in a logic of parsimony and economy of means. The stones from the deposits were sorted and crushed to obtain the raw material for the project. Two thin gabion walls were erected and filled in place with these demolition products.
The same principle of prefabrication and “dry” assembly has been proposed for the realization of floors: galvanized metal frames are filled with floor paving.
