When the rainy, northern French city of Amiens decided in 1995 to build a new football stadium, it planned for long term project. Although its football team was a Division Two club, it targeted to move up to Division One, an elevation in rank that would require the city to expand the 12,000-seat Licorne Football Stadium to 20,000-seat. Modest in size and cost, it demonstrates a singular grace and delicacy that is the hallmark of Chaix & Morel Architects. From the southwest, the building looks like an immense greenhouse half-concealed in the hollow of a peat plain at Renoncourt, a village near the old city.

Its tall glazed walls allow views to the surrounding forest, as well as the celebrated cathedral which stands a short distance away. The design developed by Chaix & Morel Architects works from the ground up, literally. To stabilize the soil, the architects dug wells in a grid pattern under the grass and filled each with rock and gravel. Supporting the Licorne Football Stadium itself are concrete piles sunk deep into the site. The Chaix & Morel Architects imposes an image of discretion and lightness, as their design implemented a simple rectangular plan for the stadium, eliminating any complex structure and minimizing the building’s weight.

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