Location: Joué-lès-Tours, France.

Architect: Moussafir Architectes Associés.

The former Joué-lès-Tours youth centre was a closed-off building that did not interact with the surrounding public space and did not meet current standards. The new music facility aims to open up the building to its surroundings, improve its integration with existing buildings, and emphasize its festive dimension. The new concert venue was built in the same location as the old one, but with a radically new design that includes a generously glazed street-side entrance, deep projecting eaves, and a strongly cantilevered auditorium. The structure is divided into two parts, with a horizontal concrete and glass base containing an open interior space and an opaque white roof integrating three main components of the design brief. The use of contrasting materials emphasizes the duality of the design. The new building stands out in the urban landscape with its complex volumetrics and textured outer surface. The design aims to be a unique yet familiar object that is challenging yet invites appropriation, a sculptural design that refers to nothing that already exists but is easily engaged with by users in functional and symbolic terms.

Photo credit: Hervé Abbadie.