A faceted aperture cut through the centre of the building makes way for a promenade that connects the plaza it sits on with the the river’s edge. The walkway carves the MÉCA (Maison de l’Économie Créative et de la Culture en Aquitaine) into four sections. An 80-seat cinema for the ALCA and a 250-seat auditorium for the OARA occupy the two vertical portions of the building, spanned by the FRAC’s 7-metre-tall galleries and roof terrace. Connecting the elements at the base is a glass-fronted entrance tucked beneath the walkway and a broad open space described as an “urban room”, which can be used for outdoor performances, installations and concerts.

“The building is conceived as a single loop of cultural institutions and public space by extruding the pavement of the promenade to become the ramp that leads into the urban living room, the façade with glimpses into the stage towers of OARA and the offices of ALCA, and the rooftop enclosing the sky-lit galleries of FRAC,” says BIG.

The building is covered in 4,800 concrete panels, sandblasted to reveal the aggregate. Checkerboard arrangements of windows perforate parts of the building to illuminate some spaces and darken others. Inside, a nod to the city’s wine-making fame is made with a palette of red and cork furniture.