EMBT and Ilimelgo win competition for the renovation and extension of the City of Romainville's Events Hall in Paris

Miralles Tagliabue EMBT and the Paris-based Ilimelgo have been announced as the winners of the two-stage restricted competition for the renovation and extension of the events hall at the City of Romainville in Paris, France. Organized by the Municipality of Romainville, the renovation and extension of the events hall is aimed at diversifying the set of activities the space can accommodate and providing the town with a contemporary, flexible space. 

The winning proposal by the two firms was chosen for their "innovative spatial response to the brief and conversion of the building and its exterior surroundings into a vibrant social environment." The approach focuses on two main strategies, renovating the front façade to add more transparency and create a more visible entry, and creating a dialogue between the extension of the building and the pedestrian path leading to the back of the site and the children’s playground.

Read on for more images and project details.

From the architects: A dialectic understanding of balance and tension when it comes to the relationship between the old and the new guided our response to the brief. The expression of this conceptual choice manifests in the renovation of the industrial hall, on the one hand, and the construction of the event spaces, on the other. 

The selection of elements to preserve and restore is dictated by their distinctive character. We analyzed the regulating and compositional orders of the existing building.

Additionally, we decided to give new life to the façade towards the Paul Vailland Courtier Avenue while keeping to its original character. We maintain the original brick pillars in their full height, as well as the top concrete attic. The façade’s different levels of enclosure (between glass, perforated metal cladding and entirely open areas), play on the idea of transparency.

As for the two individual halls, their multifaceted silhouette is divided into large triangular panels, cut following the outline of a chestnut leaf. The facades and roofs of these structures help form a built landscape within the natural landscape of the garden. 

Our idea was to restore the current event space to its original function of covered hall, displaying its entire volume and original structure. This new vital space formally articulates the entire project, as well as functionally organizing the access to different elements of the program.

On the one hand, the access to the kids’ future playground is set under a large hall, corresponding to half of the surface of the current event room. This hall distributes the visitors towards the garden, the house of philosophy, and potentially to a local association, as previously demanded in the client.

The other half of the existing building’s hall space becomes a foyer connected to the ticket office, a bar, and the event and modular halls. The management offices are on the first floor, overlooking the interior double height. In continuation of the east wing of the existing building, additional office and technical spaces, as well as the artists’ corner, are located on two floors. They irrigate the performance halls with the material supplies they require, while remaining out of sight for the public. 

The access to the logistics needed to be continuous, efficient and discreet. Therefore, we preferred using the possible passage on the west of the elementary school for the supply vehicle access.

Project Credits:

Miralles Tagliabue EMBT (lead architect), Ilimelgo (sssociate architect), design team: Vincenzo Larocca, Alessia Apicella, Ana Otelea, Marzia Faranda, Andrea Marchesin, Valentina Frigeni, Sara Mucciola, Marco Loretelli, Yasmine Fahmy. Tourny (scenography), Land’Act (landscape design), AVLS (acoustique),  EPDC (Bet)