Social centre, cultural space and piazza in Nemours (77) 2011  -  2016 - Louis Tequi - France

As part of its urban renewal plan, the City of Nemours needed a social centre and cultural space on the wide esplanade of the Mont Saint-Martin quarter. The aim of bringing facilities of this scale together with shops around a redesigned public area was to breathe new life into local businesses and strengthen social ties. Its central, high-profile position bolsters the building’s function as a public asset. Visible from all sides, the project is at the confluence of rue de Chérelles, two side streets and the future cultural centre’s esplanade. The building’s purpose is also to link the upper level of the esplanade to the parking lot base level. The two superimposed programmes conform to the same architectural principles: lobbies offering a clear view from the public space to the interior garden, and organisation of the different hubs around a central patio. Transparency through to the patio and the exterior underpins the project’s configuration and visually links the two programmes. The patio gives the building a sense of interiority, providing views and light to all rooms in the programme as a complement to the exterior frontage. An ornamental garden is visible from the public area through the lobbies of the cultural and social centres. In a highly mineral environment, this is a valuable, refreshing space designed to benefit the users of the public facilities.