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Design: Dominique Coulon & Associés.

Architects: Dominique Coulon and Steve Letho Duclos.

Design team: Guillaume Wittmann and Gautier Duthoit.

Client: Ville de Venarey-Les Laumes.

Location: Avenue de la Gare, Venarey-Les Laumes, France.

Photographs: David Romero-Uzeda.

Construction site supervision: Lionel Debs Architecte.

Structural engineer: Batiserf Ingénierie.

Electrical engineer: BET G.Jost.

Mechanical plumbing engineer: Solares Bauen.

Cost estimator: E3 Economie.

Acoustics: Euro Sound Project.

Scenographer: Euro sound project.

Surface: 1,646 sq.m.

Budget: 3,600,000 euros.

Art and Conference Centre

The Art and Conference Centre, Inter-Generation Centre, and Tourist Office stretches alongside the railway line in the small village of Venarey-Les Laumes, in Burgundy.

EXT_angle-chemin-fer_DSC_9289_PSDEXT_angle-silo_DSC_9258_PSDEXT_angle-ville_DSC_9197EXT_detail_DSC_9327EXT_angle-parvis_DSC_9213_PSDEXT_cour-jaune_DSC_8921_PSDINT_Auditorium_DSC_9509_PSD

. The building, designated as a center for rural excellence, contains a number of different initiatives, including a tourist office, a conference and culture hall, a day nursery, and areas for older people. Our task was to bring all these very different initiatives together into a single dynamic unit. The upper volume seems to float above an almost transparent plinth. Cantilevers accentuate the dissociation of the various folds, each fold producing a face which captures the low-angled light produced by the orientation of the building. The lightly perforated opaque skin is divided into a number of triangles – some are matte while others are shiny, thereby breaking down the structure of the basic volumes. The building often has a different appearance at different times of day. The day nursery is located upstairs, while the other initiatives are at ground level. A bright yellow courtyard continues the line of the areas used by the nursery, the purpose being to shield them from the substantial nuisance caused by the freight trains and high-speed passenger trains that pass there. The transparent features of the ground floor are arranged in such a way that the relationship with the railway line is constant and perceived as a dynamic event. The volumes of the project express its strong identity in the landscape; it stands like a marker of ambitious political determination.

siteplan

Site Plan
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Diagrams

plans

Plans

02_ELEVATIONS-SECTIONS-1

Elevations & Section
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Façade Details

Design: Dominique Coulon & Associés.

Architects: Dominique Coulon and Steve Letho Duclos.

Design team: Guillaume Wittmann and Gautier Duthoit.

Client: Ville de Venarey-Les Laumes.

Location: Avenue de la Gare, Venarey-Les Laumes, France.

Photographs: David Romero-Uzeda.

urbanNext (May 13, 2025) Art and Conference Centre. Retrieved from https://urbannext.net/art-conference-centre/.
Art and Conference Centre.” urbanNext – May 13, 2025, https://urbannext.net/art-conference-centre/
urbanNext October 19, 2016 Art and Conference Centre., viewed May 13, 2025,<https://urbannext.net/art-conference-centre/>
urbanNext – Art and Conference Centre. [Internet]. [Accessed May 13, 2025]. Available from: https://urbannext.net/art-conference-centre/
Art and Conference Centre.” urbanNext – Accessed May 13, 2025. https://urbannext.net/art-conference-centre/
Art and Conference Centre.” urbanNext [Online]. Available: https://urbannext.net/art-conference-centre/. [Accessed: May 13, 2025]

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