Location: Paris, France.

Architect: Manuelle Gautrand Architecture.

The Gaumont-Pathé group decided to renovate the Alésia multi-screen cinema in 2011 to upgrade the cinemas and improve user comfort. The aim was to transform the cinema into a high-quality cultural venue that could accommodate a varied program, mixing cinema with other cultural events. The building now comprises eight screens and occupies a fairly deep site, with a second facade on the side street, Rue d’Alésia. The main facade on Boulevard du Général Leclerc is long and framed by two adjacent buildings, very different from one another. The building has a rich history, having been built in 1921 as the ‘Montrouge Palace’ and transformed several times over the years. The last renovation was completed in 2004, with the inauguration of a new ‘Gaumont-Alésia’. It involved the complete transformation of all the spaces in line with a new identity for Gaumont cinemas designed by Christian Lacroix. The new renovation aims to open a whole new chapter for its cinema architecture, a chapter that is contemporary and innovative, where the accent is on comfort as well as audio and visual quality for the film theatres themselves, but also on original and generous public spaces for before and after the film. The project aims to transform the cinema into a high-quality cultural venue that can accommodate a varied program, mixing cinema with other cultural events. The new renovation will be a contemporary and innovative chapter for cinema architecture, with an emphasis on comfort, audio and visual quality, and original public spaces.

Photo credit: Luc Boegly.