Music & Congress Centre, Strasbourg (FR)
New building,
Further construction,
Refurbishment
Client: Eurométropole de Strasbourg
Location: F-67000 Straßburg, Place Bordeaux
Architecture: Dietrich Untertrifaller with Rey-Lucquet
Competition: 2011, 1. prize
Construction: 2013 – 2016
Area: 44,500 m² (32,5′ renovation, 12′ new buildings)
Programme: 3,000 m² multifunctional hall, conference hall for 450 people, auditorium with 520 seats, rehearsal hall for the Strasbourg Philharmonic Orchestra, extension and refurbishment of two existing concert halls, 20 smaller conference rooms for a total of 15,000 people
Photos: Bruno Klomfar
Team
Elke Delvoye, Heiner Walker (Project management), Lena Zimmermann
Text: Gerlinde Jüttner
Partners
Statics, building services: OTE Ingénierie, Illkirch; Serue Ingénierie, Schiltigheim
Sustainability, building physics: Solares Bauen, Strasbourg
Costs: C2BI, Strasbourg
Acoustics: Müller-BBM, Munich
Stage: Walter Kottke, Bayreuth
Facade: CEEF, Ramonchamp
Landscape: Digitale Paysage, Imbsheim
Construction management: Rey-Lucquet et Associés, Strasbourg
Coordination: C2Bi, Straßburg Neuhof
Peristyle: Munch Metal Industry, Guewenheim
Awards
- The Plan Award, Finalist
- Mies van der Rohe Prize, Nomination
Dancing columns as a comprehensive gesture
The new Music & Congress Centre combines the existing event halls from the 1970s and 1980s with the new buildings to create a harmonious ensemble with a distinctive architectural identity. The complex now offers an international centre for music and culture, congresses and exhibitions.
The extension and general refurbishment included the construction of a new building with a 3,000 m² multifunctional hall, a conference hall for 450 people and an auditorium with 520 seats. The two existing concert halls were enlarged and remodelled and a new rehearsal hall was built. The extensive construction and renovation work was carried out during ongoing operations.
The qualities of the existing building extracted, reinterpreted, completely new spatial sequences created, boldly expanded and a new whole with a high recognition value created - this is a brief summary of the work. The clear, uncluttered spatial programme structures the functional sequences and enables visitors to easily find their way around.
The large Erasme auditorium in bright red has been extended and now seats 1,870 people. The strikingly structured wall panelling has been retained. All halls are equipped with state-of-the-art event technology and can be used flexibly.
The acoustic concept for the halls was developed together with Müller-BBM Munich. The decorative plaster elements on the ceiling and walls create a diffuse acoustic mix for a balanced sound quality without excessive clarity.
The purple Schweitzer hall has been extended by 300 seats and can now accommodate 1,180 visitors.
The new blue Cassin auditorium has a more intimate atmosphere with 515 seats.
The new Marie Curie event hall, bathed in bright red, offers a view of the foyer and the park. In the evening, it shines outwards like a lantern above the main entrance.
Clad in acacia wood on the outside, it "floats" on slender supports on the upper floor above the entrance hall.
In the new foyer, existing structural elements - such as the ceiling based on a triangular grid - were integrated into the new design. Incised skylights illuminate the foyer, while the individual halls stand out as acacia wood-clad volumes. Monumental staircases, galleries and bridges provide access to the concert, conference and exhibition areas. The existing marble foyer from the 1970s was refurbished and stripped of its ceiling panelling and later fixtures.
In the extension to the Erasme wing, the Strasbourg Philharmonic Orchestra was given a new oak-clad rehearsal hall and numerous small practice rooms.
The Rhin hall in the newly constructed wing provides 3,000 m² of versatile space for trade fairs and congresses. Floor-to-ceiling glazing brings sufficient daylight into the hall and provides attractive views of the park. The foyers of the hall offer additional exhibition space and invite visitors to socialise during the breaks.
Qualities of the Existing
In the 1970s, the project for a music and congress palace was realised in the form of a hexagonal building based on plans by Strasbourg city architect François Sauer and his successor Paul Ziegler. This was followed at the end of the 1980s by an extension of roughly the same volume - again on a hexagonal floor plan - which provided an additional music and theatre hall and further event space in the form of the Auditorium Schweitzer.
The significance of these structures encouraged us to further develop the existing geometry and transfer its qualities into the present.
The dynamic stainless steel arcade
The architectural idea can also be seen on the façade: a circumferential arcade almost a kilometre long envelops and unites the entire building complex and gives it a striking profile. The fifteen-metre high, six tonne steel columns with a cladding of angular folded stainless-steel sheets form an attractive, dynamic outer shell through the rotation and rhythm of their arrangement.
Impressions from the construction site
