Betillon & Freyermuth Architects created a 5m x 5m timber frame structure, adaptable to any configuration and reconfiguration, complemented by glazed modules, folding windows, automated louvers, and two motorized roofs that allow the patios to be used year-round in this mountain climate.
Meanwhile, its clear grid and simple, rigorous form allow it to accommodate new uses, evolve, and expand with ease. All pipes and utilities have been left exposed for quick and easy future replacement. It is the result of well-considered mechanisms and parameters, chosen and negotiated by and with a project team. The design was drawn gradually and spontaneously, with a movement as fluid as automatic writing.
The project is not the result of a drawing or architectural inspiration, but rather the product of a community that knows how to do a lot with almost nothing, a place that also has a two-Michelin-starred restaurant and a world-renowned knife-making tradition.
The project is one of the 7 finalists for the EUmies / Mies van der Rohe Awards 2026.
Le Foirail Multi-Service Center by Betillon & Freyermuth Architects + crypto architectes.Photograph by Maxime Delvaux.
Le Foirail Multi-Service Center by Betillon & Freyermuth Architects + crypto architectes. Photograph by Maxime Delvaux.
Project description by Betillon & Freyermuth Architects
A "capable structure" in the countryside - For this project located on the Foirail square (livestock fair) in Laguiole, we suggested a hall, a structure that can accommodate a complex program. Taking a strong stance on radical architecture, avoiding the regionalist pastiche with which we're uncomfortable, we won the competition.
The whole community of communes Aubrac Carladez Viadène came together to set up and support an ambitious program. Within this building, a music school, a media library, a nursery, and offices would coexist.
From a sustainability point of view, this building would also have to be adaptable enough to meet different future needs. This project consists of a "machine building", capable of reconfiguring itself infinitely. This strong intention requires the different users to discuss beforehand the different surfaces that will be allotted to them to maintain global harmony within a strict grid.
A 5m x 5m wooden post-and-beam structure will be installed, capable of all configurations and reconfigurations, which we will fill with glazed modules, folding bays, windows, automated louvers, and 2 motorized opening roofs allowing the patios to be used throughout the year in this mountain climate. This impression of a "machine building" is further reinforced by a set of mechanisms allowing the building to self-regulate automatically, by opening up during the night, taking advantage of the ambient coolness.
All the different pipes and networks have been left visible to be easily and rapidly changeable in the future. This project showcases the agency's approach. It is the result of thoughtful mechanisms and parameters, chosen and negotiated by and with a project team. It was drawn gradually, spontaneously, in motion as smooth as automatic writing. It is neither the result of a drawing nor the result of architectural inspiration.
