Coudoux, a commune of 4,000 inhabitants between Marseille and Aix-en-Provence, combines rural idyll with living close to the city. Recently, an extraordinary multi-purpose hall for the local tennis club has been added to the townscape – an ecological pilot project for leisure and sport. With its clear structure and openness, the timber construction blends harmoniously into the Mediterranean environment. Located on the edge of a pine forest, which serves as a water retention basin and future park, a multi-purpose leisure area for the population is being created together with the existing sports facilities.

The term "multi-purpose hall" hardly does justice to the architectural quality of the new building by Atelier Régis Roudil from neighbouring Aix: the rectangular wooden construction impresses with its remarkable lightness. This is created by the bi-folding doors on the two long sides of the column-free wooden construction. They provide an unobstructed view of the tennis courts from a distance – thanks to their filigree profile construction made of wood, even when the building elements are closed. However, if they are opened over their entire width and parked as narrow glass packages on only one side, the impression is created of an open gatehouse with a high spatial quality. This impression is reinforced by the 40 cm high concrete base framed with natural stone, on which the building seems to rest as if on a pedestal.

The multipurpose room has a usable area of 85 square meters with dimensions of 14.70 m x 9.50 m x 4.18 m (L x W x H). Sanitary, storage and technical rooms are integrated into four cubes, each five square metres in size, at the corners of the main room. The slightly recessed flat roof was constructed from prefabricated cassette elements. The architectural firm attached particular importance to the choice of materials: except for the base and parts of the insulation and sun protection, the entire building was built from local Aleppo pine. This type of wood had been displaced from the market for a long time. With the new building, the municipality of Coudoux and the Atelier Roudil are setting an example for the renaissance of this regional material. The aim is to establish a sustainable and competitive construction method with Aleppo pine in the region in cooperation with companies, environmental associations and state institutions.

The bi-folding doors are the central architectural design element of the design – with them, the desire for a space that is completely open on two sides and interacts with the landscape could be realized. In order to harmoniously integrate the bi-folding doors into the building, they were to be made of wood – like the rest of the construction. The choice fell on the Woodline wood-glass bi-folding door system from Solarlux, which architect Régis Roudil discovered at the Batimat trade fair in Paris and was made of larch wood for the multi-purpose hall in Coudoux.

With a sight line of only 143 mm in the panel butt joint, the wooden profiles made of multi-layer glued quality wood scantlings offer exceptional transparency and underline the architectural lightness of the building. In addition to the high quality of the manufactory, the architect was impressed by the high functionality and effortless handling of the building elements. According to his own statement, this system allowed him to preserve the architectural identity of the project while harmoniously integrating modern building elements.

The 6.90 m wide and 2.80 m high bi-folding doors consist of seven folding elements that can be folded outwards if desired. To open, they are pushed together barrier-free according to the accordion principle and parked as narrow glass packages on one side of the opening to save space. A swing panel as a separate passage rounds off the project-specific requirements for the bi-folding doors of the Woodline system.

In addition to the right choice of product, the decisive factor for the success of the project was the good cooperation with the construction company Exe Bois Eco-Construction, which was responsible for the installation. During a visit to the Solarlux showroom in Aix-en-Provence, the team was able to familiarize themselves with the bi-folding doors in advance. Emile Lievremont, Managing Director of Exe Bois, was impressed by the high quality of workmanship and emphasized the personal attention and comprehensive technical support of the manufacturer. Thus, despite the technical features of the project, a smooth installation could be guaranteed.