La Seine Musicale in Paris

A music centre with a concert hall and a large auditorium has recently been inaugurated. It has been built on an island in the Seine, west of Paris. It looks as an ocean liner has dropped anchor there. La Seine Musicale was built on the site of the former Renault industrial plant. It is the first project that transforms the former industrial area into a cultural centre.  

Again, Paris has a new place for music, in fact even two.  La Seine Musical includes two auditoriums, a concert hall for 1150 spectators and a Large Auditorium for up to 6000 spectators.

They are not even part of the city of Paris. But thanks to a new line of the Metro, it can be easily reached from the city centre. The financing however was secured by the community of Boulogne Billoncourt, which invested 170 million Euro into this extravagant building.

Cultural island instead of Renault
La Seine Musicale stretches over 36.500 m2 and covers a quarter of the island. From 1929 to 1992 it was the location of the Renault factory. It also became famous during the 1968 students’ movement. Following an overall concept of Jean Nouvel, a cultural park will be built at the place in different phases.  An art hotel, an art gallery and other projects are planned, the works are scheduled to be finished in 2021.

La Seine Musicale has been built after the latest technological ecological standards. A so called sun sail, a 200 t heavy construction, turns according to  the position oft he sun. It serves as a sun collector and simultaneausly gives shadow inside. 80.000 kwh of electricity are produced per year.

The Concert Halls
The lobby is about 11m above ground and surrounds the auditorium. The auditorium fo mainly classical music has a light and friendly atmosphere. Wood and airy materials were used, evocating the ambiance of a nest. The walls and ceilings are covered with different kinds of wood to produce reflecting and absorbing surfaces and secure optimal acoustics.

The orchestra platform consists of 29 variable single platforms that can be controlled individually.  
The large auditorium, called „La Grande Seine“, has been built for big rock concerts, muscials and ballets.  Thanks to telescopic seating groups, the number of seats can be increased from 4000 to 6000 spectators. The stage consists of platforms that can be lowered to floor level and also allows the construction of an orchestra pit.

The construction took only three years, and the building could be opened as scheduled, also the budget was respected. The clients claim to have realised the first cultural building in France that was built after public private partner ship model.