丨法国丨atelier AJC

Architects:atelier AJC

Area:6032m²

Year:2025

Photographs:Nicolás Borel,Sergio Grazia

Lead Architects:François Chochon, Laurent Pierre, David Joulin

Category:Theater

Project Management:Atelier d'architecture AJC

Project Owner:City of Beauvais

Accessible Terrace Area:555 m2

Cost:€13 350 000 ex-VAT

City:Beauvais

Country:France

Text description provided by the architects. The atelier AJC - François Chochon and David Joulin have completed the regional theater of the Beauvaisis. This project, a cultural beacon, is now part of the historical continuity of post-war reconstruction, marking the city of Beauvais. The "Théâtre du Beauvaisis" was conceived as a "secular nave" reaching towards the sky. Rising from 10 to 27 meters in height, the project thus earns ipso facto the status of a major new participant in the urban dialogue. The aim is to gracefully sustain the dialogue with Beauvais's two emblematic monuments: the Saint-Étienne Church, nearby, and the Saint-Pierre Cathedral, standing a little further away.

Through its singularity, the theater offers a contemporary resonance with the two prestigious buildings from past centuries. To achieve this, the building's height has been minimized as much as possible, softening its relationship with the surrounding neighbourhood while increasing the height of the main volume.

The expression "secular nave" is an intentional reference to Roman basilicas, whose architecture evokes citizen assemblies gathered together at a given moment with a shared objective.

The urban and architectural interplay initiated during reconstruction alternates between proximity and distance. This configuration situates the site within the continuity of urban enclosures, like those found in Pisa, Italy, or Orléans, France. The construction of the new theater thus provided an opportunity to complete, in a gentle yet dignified manner, a distinctive and successful urban vision.

The project was guided by two key principles: integration and orientation. The positioning of the new theater allows public space to revolve around it, much like the void of the Saint-Étienne cloister encircles the church itself. In this way, a new clos beauvaisien is born.

The foyer, with its almost Piranesian architecture, reflects the idea of welcoming movement and creating a sense of dynamism among visitors. The interior design does not evoke the bourgeois spirit of traditional theater halls but rather stages a clearing at dusk. The light-diffusing sculptures of the main hall, like wooden bas-reliefs, are inspired by the vegetal motifs found in Beauvais tapestries. They give the dark walls the appearance of forest undergrowth or foliage surrounding a singular glade, whose Magrittean blue sky evokes the twilight of a summer evening.

The mental and visual connection between artist and audience is reinforced by the face-to-face positioning of the boxes and the lobby. This relationship continues along a fluid pathway inspired by the Italian corso. Circulation between the ramps, terraces, and areas of intersection is easy; it's a place where people can freely engage in conversation. The pursuit of a setting conducive to connection leads here to what one could refer to as a "people's palace," a community house.

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