Theatre and Music School

Châtenay-Malabry, France

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Theatre and Music School

Châtenay-Malabry, France

Firm

ANMA Agence Nicolas Michelin & Associés

Type

Cultural › Hall/Theater Cultural Center
Educational › Elementary School

YEAR

2008

SIZE

500,000 sqft - 1,000,000 sqft

BUDGET

$10M - 50M

The
programme of this cultural complex groups together three distinct entities: the
theatre, the music and dance schools, and the music café. The project is
developed around a centred plan to create a unitary building that communicates
with the existing architecture—the old wing of the incineration plant that has
been preserved to house the foyer. This composition expresses the diversity of
the cultural complex’s activities while also marking its unity.
The
theatre stands at the heart of a complex formed by the former factory and the
new “cascading” volumes around it which house the theatre lobbies, the
conservatory rooms and the contemporary music rooms. The circulations are linked
by an indoor street with a coloured glass roof that runs between the auditorium
and the buildings of each entity.
The
theatre seats a maximum of 550 people and forms a landmark for users of the
cultural complex. Its walls are clad in wood panels and which integrate its acoustic
engineering. The technical areas for storing scenery and equipment are located
around the stage house, with a direct link to the delivery bay. The rehearsal
room is set behind the stage house, with the catering area and dressing rooms
above it. The conservatory and its auditorium are housed in the extension wing,
which closes off the courtyard. The facades are treated with a coloured plaster
that echoes the neighbouring Butte Rouge garden city. The golden volume of the
stage house indicates the stage equipment.
Outside,
the different levels are unified by use of the same material, thus creating a
special perspective in the linear development of a new urban boulevard.