Project Description
FROM THE ARCHITECTS:
Shigeru Ban Architects is the winner of an international design competition, a new mixed-use cultural center slated for Seguin Island in Boulogne-Billancourt, France. The island, located in the Seine River, southwest of central Paris, was the site of Renault’s manufacturing plant from the 1930s until 2005. The 36,500-square-meter musical building, contains a multi-purpose concert hall with up to 6,000 seats, a classical music hall with 1,150 seats, rehearsal and recording rooms, practice facilities, restaurant, shop, spaces for orchestra musicians, and an outdoor park that forms an inviting entry sequence into the complex. The structure features a rounded transparent skin supported by a signature geometric reticulated wooden structure, creating a protected micro-climate filled with light. To maximize solar gain, rotating photovoltaic sail is automated to work with the rotation of the sun.
This text has been lightly edited for clarity.