CONSERVATION CENTRE FOR THE MUSEUMS OF THE CITY OF POITIERS
Two buildings parallel to the horticultural lines that shape the site.
Low volumes, anchored in the ground, characterised by long asymmetrical roof slopes.
A cladding of aluminium sheets with irregular ribs run along the roof slopes and continue down to the ground.
The largest volume houses the collection transit centre and all the storage rooms, along a central circulation lit by skylights that emerge from the roof.
The smaller volume houses the work areas for the collections: restoration workshops, management and conservation offices, study room and photo studio.
The buildings are made up of a contrasted double envelope: the lightness of the external aluminium envelopes is contrasted with the mass of the internal concrete volumes; the latter form kind of "caves", refuges in which the programme elements are housed.
The aluminium envelopes ensure waterproofing, while the concrete enclosures provide thermal inertia.
Each building has a specific climatic design according to its use, always with a passive approach: thermal and hygrometric stability for the storerooms with reduced systems; inertia, natural ventilation and flexible climatic treatments for the workshops.
The design accentuates the inertia effect in the storage building: the slight burial which takes advantage of the natural slope of the land; the void between the metal envelope and the concrete enclosure on the side most exposed to the sun (south facade, roof) which allows for natural ventilation to limit the heat gain in summer.
Within the enclosure of the raw concrete volumes (with horizontal ceilings at different levels for the storage rooms; with sloping ceilings for the workshops and offices), the finishing elements (partitions, wooden windows, textile acoustic baffles, resin floor) play with the visible technical networks, rigorously laid out, to complete the impression of a protected interior.
The construction project is designed to facilitate the reversibility of the installations.
