Court Simonne-Mathieu de Roland Garros, Paris, France
The "Court des Serres" is a tennis court with 5000 spectator places enclosed on four sides by botanical greenhouses. These greenhouses, accessible to visitors, will house and display the botanical collections of the city of Paris.
These greenhouses accomodates plants from different climates, three designated to a tropical environment (with temperatures between 20 and 30°C and relative humidity of 80-90%) and one to the desert (with temperatures between 20 and 30°C and low relative humidity).
In order to comply with these hygrothermal conditions and at the same time reduce the energy required for heating as much as possible, the greenhouses are each equipped with double glazing and external solar shading, which is controlled by the building management system according to solar radiation. Heating is via finned tubes in the lower area of the greenhouses.
The air flow and renewal will be completely natural. The height difference between the openings distributed in the upper and lower parts of the facade create a stack effect that will ensure a sufficient hygienic air change rate for the plants as well as the visitors.
Finally, the relative humidity of the tropical glass houses will be maintained by pulverising water into the air, which will also create an evaporative cooling effect.