Architecture and spaces

An architectural setting

Located in the majestic buildings of the old arms factory of Saint-Étienne, protected as historical monuments, the National Design Gallery occupies building 242 of the Cité du Design.

Entrusted to the architecture agency SILT, accompanied by scenographers Ducks Scéno, the rehabilitation project was designed around two major axes: preserve and reveal the industrial identity of the site, while designing a modular place, capable to accommodate multiple uses.

The architectural intervention offers a contemporary reading of this remarkable heritage, without ever erasing it. Rehabilitation is based on the backup and enhancement of existing volumes, structures and spaces. The concrete beams, the metal frames and the stone and brick facades of the building, emblematic elements of the site, embody the ingenuity and modernity of the architectural ensemble. These powerful structures release a grandiose and singular volume, naturally structuring the spaces.

The architectural project of the National Design Gallery is part of a social and environmental responsibility approach. The materials chosen are durable and adapted to the conservation requirements of the works: peripheral walls lined with hemp concrete, a mixture of lime and hemp, promoting hygrometric and thermal control, and interior walls in wood, contributing to the comfort of the spaces and their quality of use. The scenography of the first three exhibitions is also designed in an eco-design approach.

SILT agency seeks to produce a reasoned architecture where materials and know-how are put at the service of a virtuous and responsible process. In her projects, she claims a free and transversal approach, which tends to bring out a sober, generous and lasting architecture in various contexts. Based in Lyon, with three partners and fifteen employees, it includes the rehabilitations of the covered market hall in Puy-en-Velay, Fort Victor-Emmanuel in Aussois and the Museum of Urban Arts and Street Art Saint-Chamond.

the scenography

Designed by Éric Benqué accompanied by the Pentagon graphic creation workshop, the scenography of the first exhibition of the National Design Gallery is based on wooden modules reinforced each with four fins. Nearly 80% of these elements will be reused from one exposure to another. In the exhibition space, they are arranged to create various devices, intended to best support the purpose of each curator, and to help visitors access them, noticeably and intellectually. All of these devices punctuate the course and make the visit a succession of experiences.

Eric Benque is an independent designer, specializing in the drawing of furniture and objects, interior design and exhibition scenography. It approaches furniture as a way of exploring matter and the incidence of forms ; Interior architecture as a tool for exploring everyday life and spaces ; The scenography as an invitation to reveal treasures. His projects, public or private, very varied by their scale and their contexts, are defined by a fine attention given to the environment in which they are part.

Pentagon is a graphic creation workshop founded by Vanessa Goetz and Guillaume Allard. He mainly intervenes in editorial and exhibition graphics, for cultural institutions, publishing houses, artists and scenographers.
Working in pairs for fifteen years, the studio is developing a four-handed practice, attentive to typography, hierarchy and information structure. Research and experimentation are an integral part of their process.