Le Palace Theatre 2 by Manuelle Gautrand Architecture
28/09/2015.
[Bethune] France
metalocus, CELIA RODRÍGUEZ, CLAUDIA CENDOYA.
metalocus, CELIA RODRÍGUEZ, CLAUDIA CENDOYA.
With some periods of stoppages or construction between 30s and 90s to the XXI century, the development of what was formerly a cinema and is now the "Le Palace" theater of the French town of Bethune has been watched. The result is an architecture that moves through time and history, showing the styles and features of the decades in which each stage of work was carried out.
General outside view. Le Palace Theatre 2 by Manuelle Gautrand Architecture. Photography © Luc Boegly.
General outside view. Palace Theatre 2 by Manuelle Gautrand Architecture. Photography © Luc Boegly.
General outside view. Palace Theatre 2 by Manuelle Gautrand Architecture. Photography © Luc Boegly.
Vista exterior. Le Palace Theatre 2 por Manuelle Gautrand Architecture.Fotografía © Philippe Ruault.
Outside view. Palace Theatre 2 by Manuelle Gautrand Architecture. Photography © Luc Boegly.
Outside view. Palace Theatre 2 by Manuelle Gautrand Architecture. Photography © Luc Boegly.
Outside view. Palace Theatre 2 by Manuelle Gautrand Architecture. Photography © Luc Boegly.
Extension façade. Palace Theatre 2 by Manuelle Gautrand Architecture. Photography © Luc Boegly.
Facade detail of the Initial Project .Palace Theatre 2 by Manuelle Gautrand Architecture. Photography © Luc Boegly.
Façade detail. Palace Theatre 2 by Manuelle Gautrand Architecture. Photography © Luc Boegly.
Façade detail. Palace Theatre 2 by Manuelle Gautrand Architecture. Photography © Luc Boegly.
Rehersal Room. Palace Theatre 2 by Manuelle Gautrand Architecture. Photography © Luc Boegly.
Façade detail. Palace Theatre 2 by Manuelle Gautrand Architecture. Photography © Luc Boegly.
Inside view. Palace Theatre 2 by Manuelle Gautrand Architecture. Photography © Luc Boegly.
Inside view. Palace Theatre 2 by Manuelle Gautrand Architecture. Photography © Luc Boegly.
Inside view of the expansion. Palace Theatre 2 by Manuelle Gautrand Architecture. Photography © Luc Boegly.
Site Plan. Palace Theatre 2 by Manuelle Gautrand Architecture. Image © Manuelle Gautrand Architecture.
Ground Floor Plan.Palace Theatre 2 by Manuelle Gautrand Architecture. Image © Manuelle Gautrand Architecture.
First Floor Plan. Palace Theatre 2 by Manuelle Gautrand Architecture. Image © Manuelle Gautrand Architecture.
Second Floor Plan. Palace Theatre 2 by Manuelle Gautrand Architecture. Image © Manuelle Gautrand Architecture.
Longitudinal section. Palace Theatre 2 by Manuelle Gautrand Architecture. Image © Manuelle Gautrand Architecture.
Transversal section. Palace Theatre 2 by Manuelle Gautrand Architecture. Image © Manuelle Gautrand Architecture.
Elevation. Palace Theatre 2 by Manuelle Gautrand Architecture. Image © Manuelle Gautrand Architecture.
Architecture studio Manuelle Gautrand led a project that lasted 15 years, managing in an ambitious venture: adding functionality and a new aesthetic to a building with a unique story.
Le Palace, built for the first time in the 30s, was a movie theatre. The only element that survives from the original structure is the facade supported by girders, still perfectly visible and integrated into the new red facade from the reconstruction in the 90s, alongside the latest extension covered in weaving, rhombus-shaped, metal panels.
The extension adds three new levels for rehearsal rooms and offices, and the existing structure was also completely renovated in a contemporary style.
Description of the project by Manuelle Gautrand Architecture
The building contributes strongly to the attractiveness of the area and represents the most emblematic cultural equipment of the city.
First Renovation.- The architectural concept has been to create a very compact project with spaces close to each other. The program was divided into two parts sharply juxtaposed: one intended for the artists, and the other one opened to the public. Inside the section intended for the artists, the functions are linked and follow each other with rigor: on one side the back-stage, then the scene, the proscenium, and finally the room on which comes to settle in height the state control, above the back seats.
The facade, that presents a monumental aspect, shows the internal division of the building: the part that wraps the artists' space distinguishes itself by its purple satin color. The surface of the varnish is covered with a frieze of black glazed bricks. This stylized frieze has allowed giving a certain scale to the facades of this part of the project. The facade of the public space, that takes up the area where the former movie theater used to be, is identically reproduced since it’s a part of the historical heritage of the residents of Bethune.
Extension of the Project.- The extension is located on the corner of the plot, on three levels: a volume of high-rise located on the same level as the natural ground, and dedicated to the rehearsal room; then a level of offices, which links with the existing office floor to the second floor of the building. The construction of the corner hall connects directly to the cafeteria, bringing a natural lighting and making it an animated and welcoming passageway.
The studio didn’t want to extend the existing architecture with the exact same style, but preferred to exploit two different periods. The architectural concept of the extension consists on a simple volume, almost rectangular, coated in black: a deep and powerful color. To create a soft link with the initial volume, this black is implemented in the form of a kind of weaving metal panels, which are drawing large rhombuses, to remind the ones of the purple rounded shape.
CREDITS. DATA SHEET.-
Architect.- Manuelle Gautrand Architecture.
Collaborators.- Bati-Scene (Stage design), Khephren (Structural engineering), Jean-Paul Lamoureux (Acoustics), Hexa Ingenierie (Fluids engineering & economy), HD Project (Scheduling and coordination).
Client.- Communaute d'Agglomeration de Bethune (Artois Communaute).
Area.- Gross floor area.- 20820 sqm; Extension.- 720 sqm.
Cost.- 3,6 million €
Dates.- Initial building.- 1994-1999; Extension-restructuring.- competition 2009, construction 2013-2014, opening.- september 2014.
Location.- Boulevard Victor Hugo, Corner rue du 11 Novembre –Béthune (Nord-Picardie), France.
More information
Manuelle Gautrand, Marc Blaising MANUELLE GAUTRAND
Manuelle Gautrand was born on July 14, 1961 in Marseille (France). She obtained her graduate diploma in Architecture from the “Ecole Nationale Supérieure d’Architecture de Montpellier” in 1985. She worked for 6 year in different architecture studios in Paris. She founded her office in 1991, first in Lyons and then in Paris. She lives and works in Paris since 1994.
She is the principal architect and director of the agency MANUELLE GAUTRAND ARCHITECTURE. She mainly designs buildings in areas as diverse as cultural facilities (theaters, museums, and cultural centers), office buildings, housing, commercial and leisure facilities, etc… Her clients are public contracting authorities as well as private firms, in France and abroad. In 2007 Manuelle Gautrand’s the “C42″ Citroen Flagship Showroom on the Champs-Elysées Avenue in Paris gained attention and widespread acclaim in the international arena and from a large audience.
Distinction :
• Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur, April 2010
• Chevalier dans l’ordre des Arts et des Lettres, December 2007
Awards .-
French National Institutions .-
• Member of Ordre des Architectes Français since 1990
• Titular member Académie d’Architecture (France) since 2005
Other activities .-
• Teaching at the Ecole Spéciale d’Architecture de Paris (1999 -2000), the Ecole d’Architecture Paris-Val-de-Seine (2000-2003), at the Technische Universität in Vienne, Austria Vienne (2009) and at the University of Florida School of Architecture in the United States (2010)
• Lectures in architecture schools and public institutions, regular participation in seminars, panel discussions, etc…
• Numerous press articles, publications in architecture books, etc…
• Solo and collective architecture exhibitions
• Works entered into the collections of Centre Pompidou in Paris and of La Cité de l’Architecture et du Patrimoine in Paris
• Several documentary films on her work were broadcasted on ARTE Channel in 2008 and 2009 (“l’Art & la Manière” and “Chic”).
