Palais des Congrès & Casino Cap d’Agde by A+Architecture
25/07/2019.
[Cap d’Agde - Hérault] France
metalocus, RAMIRO PÉREZ TOLEDO
metalocus, RAMIRO PÉREZ TOLEDO
A+Architecture designed this Congress Hall and Casino in Cap d’Agde, France. It is part of a larger development including a hotel and a tourist information office.
Palais des Congrès & Casino Cap d’Agde by A+Architecture. Photograph by Benoit Wehrle.
Palais des Congrès & Casino Cap d’Agde by A+Architecture. Photograph by Benoit Wehrle.
Palais des Congrès & Casino Cap d’Agde by A+Architecture. Photograph by Benoit Wehrle.
Palais des Congrès & Casino Cap d’Agde by A+Architecture. Photograph by Benoit Wehrle.
Palais des Congrès & Casino Cap d’Agde by A+Architecture. Photograph by Camille Gharbi. Image courtesy of A+Architecture
Palais des Congrès & Casino Cap d’Agde by A+Architecture. Photograph by Camille Gharbi. Image courtesy of A+Architecture
Palais des Congrès & Casino Cap d’Agde by A+Architecture. Photograph by Camille Gharbi. Image courtesy of A+Architecture
Palais des Congrès & Casino Cap d’Agde by A+Architecture. Photograph by Benoit Wehrle.
Palais des Congrès & Casino Cap d’Agde by A+Architecture. Photograph by Benoit Wehrle.
Palais des Congrès & Casino Cap d’Agde by A+Architecture. Photograph by Benoit Wehrle.
Palais des Congrès & Casino Cap d’Agde by A+Architecture. Photograph by Benoit Wehrle.
Palais des Congrès & Casino Cap d’Agde by A+Architecture. Photograph by Benoit Wehrle.
Palais des Congrès & Casino Cap d’Agde by A+Architecture. Photograph by Benoit Wehrle.
Palais des Congrès & Casino Cap d’Agde by A+Architecture. Photograph by Benoit Wehrle.
Palais des Congrès & Casino Cap d’Agde by A+Architecture. Photograph by Benoit Wehrle.
Palais des Congrès & Casino Cap d’Agde by A+Architecture. Photograph by Benoit Wehrle.
Palais des Congrès & Casino Cap d’Agde by A+Architecture. Photograph by Benoit Wehrle.
Palais des Congrès & Casino Cap d’Agde by A+Architecture. Photograph by Benoit Wehrle.
Palais des Congrès & Casino Cap d’Agde by A+Architecture. Photograph by Benoit Wehrle.
Palais des Congrès & Casino Cap d’Agde by A+Architecture. Photograph by Benoit Wehrle.
Complex site plan. Palais des Congrès & Casino Cap d’Agde by A+Architecture.
Level 0 plan. Palais des Congrès & Casino Cap d’Agde by A+Architecture.
Level 1 plan. Palais des Congrès & Casino Cap d’Agde by A+Architecture.
Level 2 plan. Palais des Congrès & Casino Cap d’Agde by A+Architecture.
Level 3 plan. Palais des Congrès & Casino Cap d’Agde by A+Architecture.
Level 4 plan. Palais des Congrès & Casino Cap d’Agde by A+Architecture.
Basement plan. Palais des Congrès & Casino Cap d’Agde by A+Architecture.
Longitudinal section. Palais des Congrès & Casino Cap d’Agde by A+Architecture.
Cross section. Palais des Congrès & Casino Cap d’Agde by A+Architecture.
Façade design drawing by Hervé di Rosa. Palais des Congrès & Casino Cap d’Agde by A+Architecture. Courtesy of A+Architecture.
Façade design drawing by Hervé di Rosa. Palais des Congrès & Casino Cap d’Agde by A+Architecture. Courtesy of A+Architecture.
Façade design drawing by Hervé di Rosa. Palais des Congrès & Casino Cap d’Agde by A+Architecture. Courtesy of A+Architecture.
The Congress Hall and Casino by A+Architecture are connected by elevated walkways, hovering over the public square below. The Palais atrium extends over three levels, and features an exhibition hall, offices, meeting rooms and an auditorium with a seating capacity of 1,200.
Both buildings have a white metal façade designed by artist Hervé di Rosa. Its 2,900 m² mesh shows various caricatured sea animals in a reference of the town's relationship with the Mediterranean.
Both buildings have a white metal façade designed by artist Hervé di Rosa. Its 2,900 m² mesh shows various caricatured sea animals in a reference of the town's relationship with the Mediterranean.
Description of project by A+Architecture
A+Architecture has just completed the redevelopment of a new district at the gates of Cap d’Agde.
The agency has also completed two major facilities which, like two white concrete pearls, signal the renewal of this of this area, the Palais des Congrès and the Casino.
A vast gently sloping promenade links them to the port, the heart of this seaside town created by Jean Le Couteur during the Racine mission.
Emblematic of the development, the Palais des Congrès has become the resort’s new showcase. Connected to the Casino by a set of circular walkways, the complex offers a formidable and unprecedented threedimensional pedestrian square that also creates a seamless connection between the new seaside resort in Agde and its historic town located a few kilometres inland.
The Palais hall extends over three levels, all three of which connect to one of the winding walkways. A very playful spatial organisation allows easy access from inside and outside, on foot or by bicycle, to all the facility’s services: lobby, exhibition hall, offices, meeting rooms and an auditorium with a seating capacity of 1,200, where turquoise blue, the only accent colour in this white complex, evokes the waves of the Mediterranean.
A large, gently sloping square is on the roof of the complex. Perched high above the site and on one side, a panoramic room, whose shape evokes a Solen (a bivalve shell commonly called a razor shell), offers exceptional views of the entire surrounding landscape.
In close collaboration with A+Architecture, Hervé di Rosa, an artist from Sète, played with the theme of the seabed in a mischievous way to design the 2,900 m² white metal mesh sculpture that covers the two buildings of this belvedere between land, sea and sky.
A unique proposal, at the crossroads of two different types of work experimented with by Hervé Di Rosa in recent years: seascape paintings and cut metal sculptures.
For this piece, the artist combined both of these techniques and designed a cut-out metal seascape. It exemplifies allthe characteristic features of Di Rosa’s work: a generous accumulation, benevolent figures, an anchoring in the local area and evidence of drawing in the design.
Sea anemones, moray eels, sardines, jellyfish, starfish, clams, wolfish, octopuses, squid, St Pierre fish, crabs, sea bream, mullet, red mullet, damselfish and hake populate this living façade around the Youth of Agde statue, a local treasure.
The work is composed of 6 panels, each of which is 90 cm wide and 3 m high. These 6 panels create a subtle repetition on the façade that combines symmetries and differences. It is through this work that art meets architecture.
In addition to being the symbol of the renewal of Cap d’Agde, the complex (conference centre and casino) is thus also the largest work of art in the world of the artist (surface area of 2,900 m²).
More information
Architects
Lead architects.- A+Architecture. Associate architect.- Philippe Escamez Architecte.
Collaborators
Executive project manager / Scheduling, overseeing and coordination of the works.- Arteba. Scenography.- Crea Factory. Structural engineering.- Terrell. Construction economics.- L’Echo. Utilities and electricity.- Celsius Environnement. Earthworks, Roads & Utility Services and electricity (high voltage A, low voltage A, street lighting).- Gaxieu. Water supply & sanitation, Roads & Utility Services, electricity (high voltage A).- Prima Groupe. Demolition.- Ginger CEBTP. Thermic & environmental assessment.- Celsius Environnement. Landscaping.- Agence TER paysagistes / PMC Creation. Acoustics.- Cabinet Vincent Hedont.
Client
City of Agde
Contractors
Earthworks.- BUESA/SOLATRAG/EIFFAGE. Structural works.- SOGEA SUD BATIMENT / GIRAUD SERIN. Sealing, cladding.- SOPREMA. Exterior joinery.- BARSALOU. Façade (Di Rosa mesh sculpture).- SOLATRAG. Architectural metalwork.- SOLATRAG. Interior joinery.- CARAYON. Partitions, linings, suspended ceilings.- CUBERO. Mobile partitions.- SAS EOLE. Raised floors.- COMEY. Flooring.- PROCERAM. Electricity, stage equipment.- SOMITEG. HVAC plumbing.- ROGER RENARD ENTREPRISE. Stage metalwork.- TAMBE.
Chairs.- HUGON TRIBUNES. Signage installations.- GROUPE MERIDIS. Paintwork.- ATELIER MEDITERRANEEN. Lifts.- KONE. Wet utilities.- SOLATRAG
Roads.- EIFFAGE. Dry utilities.- SOGETRALEC. Landscape.- Entreprise PSP (Nursery, Sport, Landscape). Street furniture.- METALCO.
Area
Palais des congrès.- 5800 m². Casino: 2430 m². Land: 12,3 ha.
Construction cost
33.100.000 € excl. VAT
Sustainability
+ Sustainable Buildings in Occitanie Approach [Démarche
Bâtiments Durables en Occitanie - BDO] bronze level
Dates
Competition.- 2015. Completion.- April 2019.
Location
Cap d’Agde, Hérault, France.
Photographer
Architecture A+
A+Architecture.- Founded in Montpellier thirty years ago, the A+ Group is based in Paris and Toulouse. It is involved throughout the country in major projects in the fields of culture, the tertiary sector, housing, health, urban planning, etc., thanks to its various entities A+Architecture, Arteba, L’Echo and Celsius.
The firm has contributed to the architectural heritage of Montpellier and its surroundings, with such projects as the Arena, the Altrad Rugby Stadium, Jean-Claude Carriere Theatre at the Domaine d’O, Port Marianne’s Urban Planning, the Saint-Jean Clinic, the Liner (office building),and the extension of the Montpellier Airport.
However, 70% of the firm’s turnover reaches beyond Montpellier, with projects such as redefining Cap d’Agde’s City Entrance through urban planning and the construction of a casino & congress center (Hérault), Ada Lovelace College in Nîmes (Gard), construction of an Emergency & Firefighting Call Center in Nîmes-Garons (Gard), extension of a public hospital in Villefranche-sur-Saône (Rhône), creation of nursing homes in Pomarez (Landes), Gimont (Gers) and Lantosque (Alpes Maritimes), creation of a housing and commercial complex in Villeneuve-Tolosane (Haute-Garonne), creation of student housing for the CROUS in Aixen- Provence and Marseilles (Bouches-du-Rhône), creation of cultural events center in Mende (Lozère).
The firm has contributed to the architectural heritage of Montpellier and its surroundings, with such projects as the Arena, the Altrad Rugby Stadium, Jean-Claude Carriere Theatre at the Domaine d’O, Port Marianne’s Urban Planning, the Saint-Jean Clinic, the Liner (office building),and the extension of the Montpellier Airport.
However, 70% of the firm’s turnover reaches beyond Montpellier, with projects such as redefining Cap d’Agde’s City Entrance through urban planning and the construction of a casino & congress center (Hérault), Ada Lovelace College in Nîmes (Gard), construction of an Emergency & Firefighting Call Center in Nîmes-Garons (Gard), extension of a public hospital in Villefranche-sur-Saône (Rhône), creation of nursing homes in Pomarez (Landes), Gimont (Gers) and Lantosque (Alpes Maritimes), creation of a housing and commercial complex in Villeneuve-Tolosane (Haute-Garonne), creation of student housing for the CROUS in Aixen- Provence and Marseilles (Bouches-du-Rhône), creation of cultural events center in Mende (Lozère).
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