PESMD
Music and Dance School, Bordeaux
Client : Bordeaux Métropole Aménagement
Region Nouvelle Aquitaine
Surface : 2 000 m²
in process 2027
DATA :
Client: Bordeaux Métropôle Aménagement and PESMD
Surface: 2.000 m²
Status: In process, 2027
Program: Study and rehearsal spaces for music and dance, multi-functional lobby, multi-purpose concert space for 150 persons, offices.
DESCRIPTION :
PESMD in Bordeaux will be the main regional institution for higher education in Music and Dance.
The new building Is integrated in an urban plan by MVRVD Zac Bastide Niel. We designed an outside skin that wrap the program. This facade is covered with a vegetal “living skin”, in the interstitial spaces between the urban canopy and the functional volumes, a series of terraces organises an outside circulation.
The ground floor houses the entrance lobby with a café and a multi-purpose concert hall. The middle portion of the building hosts administrative offices and dance studios. Music studios are located on the top floors.
Under the large slope of the roof, a cascade of five platforms starts from the entrance lobby and runs through the middle of the building to the upper floors. This cascade of platforms becomes the school’s main circulation route. At the same time, it provides spaces for student life across all levels. On these platforms, students and staff can stop, sit down, have a conversation, or even organise an informal teaching session. From anywhere on this “circulation and mingling spine”, one can see the entire up- and downward sequence of platforms.
Top-quality acoustic performance was fundamental for the project and has largely defined the design concept. In keeping with structural and acoustic requirements, we use a hybrid solution: the lower part is made of concrete, while the upper floors and the new roof are supported by a wooden structure.
The music studios are located on the top floors, where the wooden structure and the sloping roof contribute to optimum acoustic conditions.
The multi-purpose concert hall is the heart of the project. It allows for different acoustic scenarios, from the intimacy of chamber music to larger orchestra concerts, as well as contemporary electro-acoustic or percussion-based performances.