La Salle Marcel Helie
La Salle Marcel Helie
Location: Countances, France
Area: NIA 3093m2
Scope: Concert Hall
Programme: Competition Design
Architect: Studio Seilern Architects
Structural Engineer: EOC Engineers
M&E Engineer: Clarke Services Group, CSG Design
Quantity Surveyor: Boaqus
Our restoration of the Marcel Helie room in Coutances seeks to improve its functionality as a performing arts centre by adding a second layer of wooden construction to solve the vertical circulation constraints and the excessive slope of the current balconies, while adding retractable bleachers, a mobile stage and a functional backstage. Making the existing building functional and sustainable according to current standards, while keeping the spirit and the brutalist splendor of the existing building was the key. Any new addition is treated as a contemporary intervention, avoiding any form of pseudo-reconstruction or pastiche.
We have designed a new entrance with high ceilings accommodating the jazz functions while creating a foyer and an enlarged gathering space by combining the space with the 150 m² rehearsal room for the dedicated Jazz section. The extension becomes the new face of the hall, with its dynamic contemporary architecture.
The Salle Marcel Hélie was designed as a modernist intervention of solids and voids, light and shadows. The horizontality of the building recalls the volumetry of the large buildings of the 19th century. This project addresses the city’s mobility issues by creating a more pedestrian-friendly connection, linking two of the city’s 3 main levels. The acoustic insulation of the Marcel Hélie room has been significantly improved by replacing existing glazing with thermally and acoustically efficient glazing and the double glazed facade towards rue de la Halle aux Blés.
