Quai d’Angers

With Le Quai, Architecture-Studio expressed, in harmony with its convictions and with the new, outward-looking performance forms,- as much through their artistic approaches as for their welcome of the audiences -, that architecture is cultural. Architecture as an act of creation. Designed for everyone, the conception of Le Quai was accomplished with the contributions of all concerned: architects, project managers, enterprises and users, such as those received on performance days. To achieve its goals, Architecture-Studio broke with the classic idea, not to say archaic, of the theatre withdrawn in its wisdom and enclosed in its environment.

Le Quai’s various facades reinforce its relationship with the quarter, the Maine River and the city. They follow several typologies that prioritise and define access. The upper section of the Theatre is set back from the main section where the facades respect the outlines of the height of the land. The façade of the Forum favours transparency. Entirely made of glass, it is equipped with a simple system of oriental vents that control the natural air-flow. The sizeable doors open onto the forecourt and the Maine River. On both sides of the Forum, the glass inner walls are protected by a series of blinds, in pre-polished zinc, attached to a sand-finished concrete surface that prolongs its smoothness onto the two opaque facades (boulevard Gaston-Dumesnil et rue de la Coulée) enclosed in concrete composed of black aggregate from the Loire River. On Rue de la Coulée, the large doors give access to the service area, a transit space under open sky. The compact section of the building containing the upper part of the stage works of Théâtre 900, the dance school studios and the panoramic restaurant, is lined and then recovered with a perimetric screen of back-lit polycarbonate. This giant screen blurs at will with the changing lights of the day, melting into clouds and sky. In correspondence with this section, the foyer of the school of dance allows one to appreciate the geometry of the interior street that crosses the building on the lower floors. The concrete section presents a jagged profile.

Openness Towards the City
Le Quai, generous in its forms, delicate in its considerations and joyous in its colours, demonstrates its pleasure in opening itself to the world, to the city and its immediate environment, to the Chateau of King René, to the Maine River and its banks, to the artists and to all its audiences. The two monumental entry doors, in the image of a tide gate, symbolise this idea. They give way to the forecourt of the Forum, a vast area 12 m high (55 m long and 20 m wide) and a unique place in France for culture and exchange, dedicated to the reception of large gatherings of viewers, listeners and debaters... It establishes a reciprocal view between the city and the theatre. It is an open area that enables the performances to become a part of the city. It is the urban antechamber of the theatre. Once in the Forum (where one finds the reception desks, the ticket office as well as the bar), the public can access the superimposed galleries by means of two sets of stairs. A veil of concrete pierced with numerous openings offers framed views and immediate access to the Forum via four lateral passageways and several balconies. The two performance halls are thereby linked with the Forum, an open transition space between the city and the artistic performances.

A Theatre of Colour and Light
Le Quai has different viewing points where the artificial light was conceived according to the unique specifications of each space. The Forum has east, south and west exposures thanks to windows on those three sides; it is bathed in light filtered by the fine geometrical weaving of its structures. At night the walkways situated behind the concrete façade generate vividly coloured lighting that floods the Forum and the forecourt.

Eighteen mobile chandeliers complete the plan. The premises of CNDC’s school of dance, located in the emergence, benefit from natural lighting filtered by the polycarbonate envelope which covers the whole, a sort of lampshade back-lit by a mechanism of programmable, multicoloured diodes. The delivery area, other than its primary function, constitutes a large patio bringing natural lighting from building’s heart to its workshop and office spaces.

The Performance Spaces
Architecture-Studio conceived two performance halls which can function simultaneously, offering two very distinct types of stage. The difference does not appear until the viewer has crossed the walkways that separate the Forum from the two stage areas. Le Théâtre 900 has a floor capacity of 700 seats as well as two balconies that bring the total capacity to 975 seats. The lateral inner walls are covered with wood panels and then recovered with layered zinc anthracite. This skin acts like a membrane contributing to the acoustic quality of the hall. The frame opens onto a stage of 28 x 18 m with completely removable parquet flooring, freeing the space underneath. A technical grid covers the entire stage.

Le Théâtre 400 is an entirely modifiable structure where the stage and the hall form the same space. A security netting defines a hold of approximately 23 m on one side. Four mobile bleachers, equipped with over 1000 seats, allow numerous configurations with a frontal stage/hall arrangement of around 400 seats.