Tamines Cultural Center

Programme: Combining municipal buildings in a new multi-modal cultural center

About: Based on the intention of the commune of Sambreville to connect several communal buildings in order to increase the capacity of the music and fine arts academies, the project takes advantage of the natural polarity of the site and the intrinsic potential of the various buildings. It was conceived with a view to creating a true multi-modal cultural hub that could extend throughout the commune and the Basse-Sambre region.
Faced with the multiplicity of architectural languages of the existing buildings, the project's challenge was to propose a seam linking the different functions and potentialities of the existing buildings, and conferring visual coherence on the whole.
In addition, the ambition of this new connection was to create a real diaphanous interface between the public space and the enclosed garden at the rear of the site, highlighting the complementary nature of indoor and outdoor activities. This interface was treated with a double skin of expanded metal, integrating the building into its context through a subtle interplay of shading and transparency.