National monument of Georges Clemenceau – Welcome Pavilion - Mathieu Barré - France

A politician and journalist, Georges Clemenceau was one of those rare personalities with many qualities, and his understand-ing of arts and culture continue to inspire us today. He spent the last years of his life in a house, located at the edge of the ocean, in Saint-Vincent-surJard, transformed later into a National Monument. Demolished by Xynthia in 2010, the wellcome pavilion is now being rebuilt to acquire visitors and reinstate the National Monument. One of the main site’s premises is to create within the massing of the old structure composed of two juxtaposed volumes. In these beautiful landscape scenery, Clemenceau designed together with painter Claude Monet a garden which is a focal point in the project. Concept Our proposal for the new entrance pavilion is a discrete rectangular volume, gently embedded into its surroundings. Respecting the site’s heritage, the new addition is acting as a gateway to the gardens. We imagined the structure as a concrete monolithic volume emerging from the ground. Its hull, entirely built of concrete, blurs with the beach, the dunes and the courtyard, while clearly defining a passage from the open public space to the intimate gardens of Clemenceau. Working with the site constraints, the new project revolves around a central nave - a pavilion acting as a ‘‘transition structure’’, accommodating reception, museum shop and educational space, and simultaneously connecting two additional volumes for technical facilities and the personnel. Combining minimalism with ecology, our concept imposes durability and integrity, and creates presence, but remains humble. The gardens accentuate the importance of the relationship with nature, inviting the visitor to become an observer. The use of concrete, internally and externally, is a leitmotif in the concept, exploring its structural interdependence. The interior complements the exterior’s simplicity, and through its materiality becomes a concrete-encased journey that leads the visitor to the enchanting gardens. Defused light, chamfering at the angles of the inner volume, softens the perception of space and offers a warm atmosphere. The outer body is constructed in two different ways according to the volumes. The welcome pavilion is entirely made of smooth sand-coloured concrete, while the other two volumes, also of concrete, are robust. The pavilion creates an edificial link between the open space towards the ocean and the intimate gardens of Georges Clemenceau and acts as a new entrance and reception area, while creating a dialogue with the surrounding environment. The constraint of rebuilding in the exact massing of the old building and following law restrictions after the storm Xynthia is turned into a program’s advantage to provide optimized space without any corridors, allowing simple visitor flow. The furniture is designed as a secondary abstraction from the interior walls to open up the central nave, and technical space is integrated into the entire flooring to maximize modularity, flexibility and adaptation. The collaborative work and openness between the team of architects, the client – the Center of National Monuments, under the Ministry of Culture, and the execution company, facilitated a project with extended meditation. The pavilion, with its sloped concrete roof, with the different implemented techniques of using concrete and its textures, and the challenges of constructing on site under Monuments Protection lead to new potentials and discovery, expressing the sensitive aspect of concrete and its visionary implications.