Conservatoire and cultural centre — Thonon-les-Bains

The rehabilitation and extension of the Visitation convent into a cultural hub carries challenges of heritage, use and image. Bearing witness to the accumulated history of the building, the site presents a variety of constructions, geometries and levels, in the heart of Thonon-les-Bains.

The operation comprises the renovation of the existing fabric and its extension. The renewal has taken shape through the conservation and reading of the existing volumes and the materials present; the construction of a glass roof above the cloister generates a new spatiality, reinforcing its central role through the various services it distributes. The project brings together a music and dance conservatoire, a media library, a contemporary art exhibition space and the Savoyard library of the Académie Chablaisienne.

Scenarchie's assignment focuses on the creation of a 150-seat auditorium, designed essentially for unamplified speech and music. The extension that houses it unfolds a simple, compact volume; its massing, scale, colours and skin draw on the nature of the existing buildings to ensure continuity and to carry on the historical sedimentation of the place.