Far from being a defect, the ambivalence of this environment creates an interesting urban situation, which permits a description of the area around the theater by prioritizing its facades.

Focusing on issues of visual perception, dimensions of void spaces, functions, and procession, we sought to update the characteristics of the site by drawing on a detailed analysis of the urban context. To remove any hint of “architectural gesture,” all about freedom, not argued. This subjective reading of the site has helped to significantly refine our volumetric work. It leverages the ambivalence of the site - between the domestic scale and the slenderness of Gothic cathedrals - to order the functions and dimension the volumes by appropriately associating them to the immediate area, and finally to compose the overall visual perception of the building.

With this theatre we want to provide users and residents an experience which is dynamic, sensitive, and more than a quasi-static reading of a construction. This is why we have chosen to offer different visual experiences depending on the scales of perception. From afar, the project is an abstraction, a metallic monolith. The scale is identifiable by the mysterious glistening reflections of the material from the sun. As you move closer, a game of seduction and eroticism is established between the gaze which penetrates and reflects the landscape. From the inside, however, a high transparency establishes continuity between the garden and the ambulatory. The facades are defined by two layers, each responding to different needs and complementing the other perfectly. Light and thin, the first skin (brushed aluminum) creates an effect of visual penetration. Technically, it acts as sun protection and the buildings security system. The second skin (glass) meets the thermal requirements.

Client: Communauté d’Agglomération du Beauvaisis / Cost: € 21.2 excl. VAT / Surface: 7441 m² / Schedule: 2013 / Team: Batiserf Ingénierie (Structure), LBE (M.E.P.), Michel Forgue (Surveyor), Franck Boutté (HEQ)