Halle 2 Safety is a welcome slab of austere Swiss modernism, strictly shaped for function yet rich in detail and quality. Designed to house the emergency services at Payerne Air Base, a Swiss Air Force facility just south of Lake Neuchâtel, the building is described by its architects as a ‘high-performance working tool’ as well as a pleasant place to live for teams that need to live on site whilst on duty.
Halle 2 Safety, Payerne Air Base, by RDR architects
The project was designed by RDR architects, a firm founded in 1993 by Jacques Richter and Ignacio Dahl Rocha and initially based only in Buenos Aires. Today, it also has outposts in Madrid and Lausanne, and it was the latter team, led by Kenneth Ross, Antoine Barc, and Frédéric Comby, who have overseen the delivery of this substantial 4,000 m² complex.
Halle 2’s main function is to house the fire service and rescue units, with living accommodation alongside the hangars and garages for the base’s fire tenders and associated vehicles. The building has to provide for about 100 personnel at any one time, with all the accompanying space for logistics, training and administration in addition to temporary living spaces.
Halle 2 is an unashamedly authentic representation of the oft-quoted maxim ‘form follows function’. Long and low, with supergraphic signage that leaves no question about what happens within, the structure represents, in RDR’s words, ‘architectural restraint, environmental sustainability, and spatial quality.’
The new building brings together the functionality contained within a number of obsolete older buildings, consolidating the airbase’s needs in a single structure and follows a new Halle 3 for aircraft maintenance.
In addition to garaging and maintenance bays in the central hall, complete with high ceilings for emergency service vehicles, Halle 2 provides accommodation for the base’s Rescue Standby Unit, including command areas and living spaces. Access to the vehicles is prioritised for emergency situations, a consideration that also resulted in wide corridors and the all-important inclusion of pole access to the garage area.
The large spans are made possible by glue-laminated timber beams and steel trusses, along with concrete cores for the accommodation blocks. Internal walls are formed from rammed earth to give the structure greater environmental performance, while the whole building is swathed in a ventilated perforated aluminium envelope, with individual windows rather than expansive glazing.
Halle 2 Safety, Payerne Air Base, by RDR architects
This nod to the aeronautical environment also cuts down on glare for approaching aircraft. On the roof, around 1,600m² of photovoltaic panels supplement the energy requirements of the building.
Halle 2 Safety alongside Halle 3
‘Halle 2 constitutes a high-performance working tool designed to meet both current and future security needs of the Payerne Air Base, as well as the evolving military infrastructure and the introduction of new combat equipment,’ RDR say. The building continues the long tradition of austere but finely resolved and beautifully built Swiss infrastructure.
Fire tender outside Halle 2
RDRarchitectes.com, @RDR.lausanne