Cultural Centre by Dominique Coulon

Saint-Jean-de-Luz, a town of 15 000 inhabitants, is located in the French part of the Basque Country, just across the Spanish border on the Atlantic coast. To the north of the town centre, only about 500 m from the beach, Strasbourg-based architect Dominique Coulon has built the town's new 3000 m² cultural centre. The generously proportioned site enabled Coulon's practice to design spacious access areas and closely link interior and exterior spaces.

Inside, visitors are greeted by a three-storey atrium made almost entirely of exposed concrete, with daylight flooding in from all sides. © Eugeni Pons

The largest part of the cultural centre is the 800 m² theatre on the east side, which can accommodate 500 seated or 1000 standing visitors. The auditorium is decorated entirely in red, while the stage is neutral black. Next is the spectacular showpiece of the new building: a three-storey atrium made entirely of exposed concrete, in which neighbouring rooms leave their imprint. On the west side, the architects have stacked a music school and rehearsal rooms for theatre and dance over three levels.

The theatre auditorium, which has 500 seats, is decorated entirely in red. © Eugeni Pons

The building's lighting design is also unique: although it does not appear particularly glassy from the outside, daylight enters from all sides. The windows are often set back into recesses. The two generously glazed rehearsal rooms and the dance studio, which open onto the outside, are exceptions to this. Visitors are invited to linger outside the performances on a roof terrace on the second floor and an open-air theatre with 150 seats at ground level.