Le Theatre, Mons

Junction between old and new parts of the building.

Project details

• Project Name: Le Theatre, Mons
• Location of Site: Mons, Belgium
• Principal Designers: Atelier d'Architecture Pierre Hebbelinck & Pierre de Wit
• Design Team: Margerida Serrao, Julien Germay
• Project Type: Theater
• Client: Communaute Francaise Wallonie-Bruxelles
• Built-up Area: 2720 sq. mt.
• Cost of Construction: 5800000 Euros
• Date of completion: 2006

View of the entrance, and of the cantilever.

Words from the architect

Our approach was to consider the place as an entity that needs a new impulse of development.

Although it is located near the centre of Mons, the riding school is isolated from the cultural heart of the city, which is concentrated around the market square.

It's a kind of "distant proximity", which could be resolved by creating a meaningful site.

It was our wish to clearly define the theatre space of those who practise this art discipline and all the other people involved. The building of the riding school thus becomes the body of the theatre activity, from the stage to the technical spaces, including the offices.

View of the main hall.

The main body of the building was closed on itself. It did not reveal anything of its internal relationship with the street and the urban space in general. Our project privileges the relationship between the users and the surroundings. The entrance hall and the volume of the room form the signifiers towards the outside, transcending the relationship between the theatre and the universe on the outside. The artistic intervention under the rows enhances the general expressiveness.

The building maintains the original expression of the riding school. The theatre is built in concrete for technical and spatial reasons, because it has to be perfectly impervious to noise and light. This "box" is wrapped in a light glass skin, so a spatial exchange is possible between the urban universe and the theatre. Again for reasons of attractiveness, signalling and transparency, the entrance hall is built in the same material.

View of the illuminated "Box".

By means of the play of volume, the link is created between old and new.

The construction of the main hall independently of the ancient building opens facilities for the use of the tool. The proposed implantation frees from the former riding school space, and permits the creation of new ones, where they are needed. Technical constraints also bring sense to the project.

View of the reception hall.

Some examples: the nature of the concrete work, necessary for reasons of stability, offers different potentialities, particularly with a view to the acoustics; walls of the main hall are molded and studied for the sound diffusion. The spaces under the ancient frame are not hidden nor a constraint for the main hall, but are emphasized in reception halls.

External view of the "Box".

The project's practicality is based on the linking of the theatre's different functions. We juggled with the needs for proximity, liaison, independence and isolation. The rehearsal room is linked to the technical spaces, as they also represent the link to the main hall. The administrative rooms are located near the reception, i.e. near the public space, which stimulates the contact between the offices and the visitors, as well as the physical link with the street. The theatre can be reached from the entrance hall by several entries.

Credits

• Text, Courtesy of Atelier d'Architecture Pierre Hebbelinck
• Photographs by Marie-Noelle Dailly, Courtesy of Atelier d'Architecture Pierre Hebbelinck & Pierre de Wit