Tank Architecture, Madeleine, France, Mediatheque, public libraray, public facility, police station, conversion, canopy, faceted canopy

Originally a police station, at the end of the summer in French city of Madeleine the renovated place will re-open as a Médiathèque – public library and visitor center, deeply integrated with the city. The new place will reactivate cultural scene of the city, offering newly designed public spaces and an envelope for social gatherings.

Tank Architects, French practice, did a project of restructuring and extension of a former police station, aiming to connect the future public space to the urban environment. In order to provide true integration, the public facility designed as an extension of the public square and walk-runs.

The library is divided into two programmatic entities – the visitor center and the reading room, whose schedules vary. The place of the existing station is now converted into a reading room and is covered with cellular, porous timber roof – faceted canopy controls the indirect light that comes into the space. The roof is therefore a tool for regulating the light and acoustic qualities of the space and acts as an active sheet. The interior ambiance refers to both the warm inside reading rooms of the mansions and the qualities of the great outdoors manufactures bathed in diffuse light.

The library opens to the garden through which participates in linking neighborhoods with downtown, creating a constant flow of visitors and creative energies. The ground floor of the development facilitates a small auditorium, a cafe and seating areas that can host wide range of community events. Central atrium allows smooth passage through the building, connecting the contents and linking the edifice to the outside.

Tank Architecture, Madeleine, France, Mediatheque, public libraray, public facility, police station, conversion, canopy, faceted canopy

Tank Architecture, Madeleine, France, Mediatheque, public libraray, public facility, police station, conversion, canopy, faceted canopy

Tank Architecture, Madeleine, France, Mediatheque, public libraray, public facility, police station, conversion, canopy, faceted canopy

Tank Architecture, Madeleine, France, Mediatheque, public libraray, public facility, police station, conversion, canopy, faceted canopy

Tank Architecture, Madeleine, France, Mediatheque, public libraray, public facility, police station, conversion, canopy, faceted canopy

Tank Architecture, Madeleine, France, Mediatheque, public libraray, public facility, police station, conversion, canopy, faceted canopy

Tank Architecture, Madeleine, France, Mediatheque, public libraray, public facility, police station, conversion, canopy, faceted canopy

Tank Architecture, Madeleine, France, Mediatheque, public libraray, public facility, police station, conversion, canopy, faceted canopy

Tank Architecture, Madeleine, France, Mediatheque, public libraray, public facility, police station, conversion, canopy, faceted canopy

 

 

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