Arcadia Cinema in Riom
In the land of extinguished volcanos, a French mid-size city has launched an impressive project, Les Jardins de la Culture, including a stunning new cinema.
In the heart of France, the city of Riom has undertaken an extensive makeover of former Redemptoristine convent’s garden. Close to the historical city centre, the Gardens of Culture project includes a multimedia library, a music school and a cinema.
For this project, Tracks Architectes have worked in collaboration with the association of the community of Riom Limagne et Volcans and Frédéric Emile, the operator.
Cinema Arcadia hosts three rooms with 543 seats and a 112 seats conference room.
A first volume borrows its height from the wall of the existing enclosure. Constitutive of the existing wall, “Volvic stone” (from an extinguished volcano) offers a material available to be reused as large aggregates for the concrete of the outer sails of the first low volume.
Treated in a dark hue, the facade will be finally bushed partially, at variable heights letting reappear in his mass, the stone fragments of the old wall evoking traditional masonry. The facade thus marks the footprints of a new history of the place and reinterprets in a contemporary way the use of a local identity material, by having their aesthetic dialogue.
A second volume with marked scale and proportions, imposes itself as an urban signal above the seat orchestrated by the wall. A concrete white monolith dyed in the mass comes to take support on the ground, by an apparent fragility, on a succession of arches, in front of the “Jardin de la Culture” and the “couvent des Redemptoristines”. This identity strengthens the fantasised image of a cloister around the large plant plaza. This volumetric division in foot opens generously the large gallery of the cinema hall to the outside. The invitation is made: Go through these monumental doors, bathing this living space with light.
A large exhibition hall, offers a majestic input volume. This one opens very largely on the “Jardin de la Culture”. This generous and continuous space is extended by a covered outdoor gallery perforated by the arches. To access at movie theatre, the spectator borrows a hallway, which is articulated around the conference room. This plan’s organisation manage viewers flows by proposing a quality path around the topic of the cinema’s world.
Pictures by Guillaume Amat.
