The architects have designed a muscular polyhedron clad in zinc, interrupted by a giant screen which announces performances and upcoming events. Inside, Tetrarc chose to work with yellow and purple, embedding it into the foyer, stairs, patio and the entrance of the halls.
These are colours that, for the architects, evoke the art of bullfighting, which was an inspiration since Tetrarc views "the concert as a confrontation between artists and the public". This way, textures in the wall of the main hall display images of a crowd sitting in an arena.
The architects sought to evoke and pay tribute to the visual arts, conceiving the foyer like a penetrable sculpture, the performer's restaurant as a tribute to abstract geometric art, and the patio's large repetitive stripes as a tribute to Nimes-based group Supports-Surfaces.
Architects: Tetrarc Architectes
Project Manager: Michel Bertreux
Project Director: Rémi Tymen
Study: Olivier Perocheau, Richard Sicard, Florent Delaboudinière, Timothée Naux
Landscape Designer: Louise Follin
Computer Graphics Designer: Mikaël Trocmé
Construction site: Guillaume Blanchard, Marc-Antoine Bouyer, Alice Pedel
Client: City of Nîmes
Consultants: BET Structure_ E2C (Structures), BET Fluides and HQE_ AREA, OPC_ CMB + Bernard Poissonier, ECONOMIST_CMB (Economist), Architecture et Technique (Scenography), Atelier ROUCH (Acoustics)
Program: Concert hall (1300 seats), Club room (390 seats), 7 recording and training studios, 6 studios for artists in residence, offices
Completion: 2012
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