Stade des Loipes, La Verpillière
Construction Experience, AE&CC Design BuildLab.
Construction site of a sports facility building at Stade des Loipes, La Verpillière.
During the first year of my Bachelor’s degree, I attended a construction workshop over a period of ten days, distributed across more than a month. This internship allowed me to discover and learn about the different professions involved in the construction sector.
I have followed the project through many different phases, from the installation of the primary structure to the final plaster for the interior partitions.
I attended this experience alongside the research laboratory CRAterre and as part of the Master’s course AE&CC Design BuildLab, hosted by Marie and Keith Zawistowski.
CRAterre is a research association founded in connection with ENSAG. The group works towards the safeguarding and development of earth construction techniques in France and around the world. The association is globally recognised for its research and use of earth as a building material.
This experience gave me a first direct understanding of how architectural drawings are transposed into reality, and of how drawings and calculations do not always translate perfectly into the real world, as they cannot fully account for imperfections and material properties.
We tend to represent wood joinery according to Euclidean and orthogonal rules, while in reality, this material has a certain flexibility and imperfections that can allow non-orthogonal joinery to exist.
Working with my hands and alongside professionals was helpful in understanding architecture beyond the drawing, through the physical reality of making.
The discovery of different machines and tools was also important in understanding how to determine the best way of building an idea, while recognising the possibilities and limitations of each construction tool.
Build smarter through experience.
We worked across two main sites: Les Grands Ateliers, a large construction hall where the prefabricated elements were produced, and the construction site itself, where they were assembled.
Days of attendance
May: 15, 17, 22, 23, 24, 29, 31
June: 5, 6, 7
The tasks I’ve been part of
Wood frame construction
Insulation, waterproofing and roof
Cob earth construction
Work in construction sites
Construction machines and tools
Prefabricated wall panels
Grains d’Isère
During the experience we attended the 18th edition of the “ Grains d’Isère ” festival, a major event bringing together earth-construction experts from around the world.
Over two days, we learned about material properties and some of the most common earth construction techniques used around the world: rammed earth, bauge, dry bricks, adobe, torchis, and earth plaster. We also had the opportunity to discover ongoing research into earth as a construction material.
