Located on the Domaine de Bômale, in Saint-Denis-de-Pile (Gironde), the BOMA cultural center includes the construction of a media library housing a toy library, digital spaces, a branch of the county library, social and cultural services departments (legal aid, administrative support, etc.) and a performance hall with a capacity of 130 people; and the rehabilitation of a chartreuse hosting a weddings and municipal council hall, a reception room, thematic workshops and offices.

We wanted the project to blend discreetly into the landscape while ensuring that it was easily identifiable as a major local public facility, so we used the nature of the site and its surroundings to propose a restrained, pared-back composition that enhances the intrinsic atmosphere of the site and converses with both its built environment and the landscape.

Located along the stone perimeter wall of the estate, the media library acts as a signal marking the entrance to the park. It takes the shape of a ground floor building made up of two horizontal lines that frame the landscape: the wooden terrace and the six-metre-wide cantilevered roof overhang running all the way around the building. In terms of materials, the transparency of the glass combined with the warm aspect of the wood, allow the project to be subtly integrated into the landscape.

The transparent façade next to the main entrance makes it possible to see right through the building from the street, creating a sense of visual continuity between the public space and the park. Designed as a third place where different activities, different audiences mingle, transparency is also used to enable and promote interaction. From the entrance and reception onwards, the transparency of the public areas – that laid out around two patios leading from the plaza towards the park - invite people to walk around and discover the centre. Some of the spaces, such as the kids’ storytelling area or workspaces, offer a quieter, more private environment while retaining a visual relationship with the rest of the centre. On the park side, the entirely glazed facade opens onto the landscape of the large meadow, while the reading terrace provides to users an extension of the interior spaces.

The public areas are sheltered by a metal structure and have mixed curtain façades of aluminium and spruce which are entirely glazed. The staff areas and more private spaces have concrete walls covered in 3-ply cladding and spruce battens, which is used in exactly the same way on the façade and on the interior walls. Wooden “shutters” made of the same materials are positioned in front of each door and window, making it possible to shut out the light in these areas. These shutters are designed in such a way that when they are closed, the door or window is perfectly concealed, giving the illusion of a smooth, windowless façade.

A footpath through the park leads from the new building to the converted Chartreuse, for which we have endeavored to preserve the historic integrity and the original materials.