The theatre strengthens a comprehensive creative space in the dense urban fabric of Carouge. The friction between a very limited site and large performance space requirements necessitates a high degree of concentration where all elements fuseinto a single body. A long process of consultation (including a referendum) established the project in the public mind while the theatrical facility was still being perfected, together with the community of users.
On the scale of the site, the project comprises five large programme spaces (three new halls, existing community hall, entrance esplanade) by exploiting their interstices to define interior and exterior circulation. On the side open to the public, the foyer opens up to the full width of the esplanade, while to the rear, the assembly hall forms an interior courtyard grouping together the stages and set workshops. The first floor is allocated to working areas, with workshops, offices, meeting areas, dressing rooms and control rooms distributed in a circular arrangement.
Trimmed as closely as possible to the fixed volumes, the theatre envelope presents a set of masses staggered to control their scale. The exceptional absence of expansion joints in the claddings reinforces the building’s monolithic character. Thebeige colour, elongated dimensions and rusticity of the brick inform the dialogue of the façades with the sky, the city and the vegetation.
Team:
Architect: PONT12 Architects SA
Civil engineer: EDMS
Engineer C: Jakob Forrer AG
Engineer V: Jakob Forrer AG
Engineer S: SRG / engineering - Schumacher & CHingS Engineers SA
Engineer E: Thorsen Sarl
Scenographer: Thierry Guignard
Geotechnical engineer: De Cerenville
Facade engineer: ZPF.Ingenieure
Building physics: Mats-Ola Nilsson EPFL/SIA Consulting Engineer
Landscape architect: Klaus Holzhausen and Interval Paysage Sarl
Photographers: Matthieu Gafsou/Vincent Jendly/Etienne Malapert
