[TESTIMONIAL] JEAN-CLAUDE FERAUD, MAYOR OF TRETS (SOUTH OF FRANCE)
This concept is more innovative, modern, cheaper to maintain and comes at a lower cost than conventional solutions
After 11 months of construction work, the town of Trets (13) has a new gymnasium at its La Gardi sports complex. The facility features a textile roof by SMC2. Mayor Jean-Claude Feraud talks about the choices made for this brand-new facility.
Could you tell us about the new gymnasium?
The gymnasium has a conventional multisport hall for traditional team sports like basketball, handball, volleyball and badminton. In addition, the hall features an artificial climbing wall. Local sports clubs are the main users, both for training and playing official matches. The schoolchildren don’t really use it since the school is a bit far from the site and they already have a gymnasium nearby.
Why did you choose a textile roof by SMC2?
We were taken to see this process used at other facilities by the people who recommended it to us. We came to the conclusion that it was more innovative, modern, faster to install, easier to maintain and cheaper than a conventional solution. In addition, the outside temperature doesn’t have to be 20°C before you can start playing. SMC2 guaranteed that the temperature would not go down below 12°C, even if it was cold outside, and they were right! The result is highly satisfactory, especially since once they’re tried it, it’s no problem for users. From the maintenance standpoint, there are also a lot of advantages for us because there are none of those leakage problems you get with a roof deck.
From the user’s point of view, what are the advantages of textile?
Firstly, from the design standpoint, it is very good-looking. But more importantly, this system provides outstanding brightness. The lighting is much more natural and when the weather’s good, you could be outside. This really is a huge asset because lighting is a very important factor for sportspeople, since less than perfect light conditions can hinder performance. After a few months of use, feedback from users is positive. This confirms our choice of a special concept that we were betting on for success. But there wasn’t really much danger of it not working for us, since the solution has been tried and tested in many towns and cities across France. By the way, a lot of local government officials visit our gymnasium to see the result for themselves. As for me, I plan to build an additional hall next to this one using the same system.