Design: Du Besset-Lyon Architectes



Orleans Mediatheque
Regional municipal library
Place: Gambetta, Orleans
Client: City of Orleans
Constructions: Jan 1992-Jan 1994
Surface area: 8,000 m²/ Cost: 58.5MF net (with furnishings)
Engineers: GII / R. J. van Santen (facades)
Consultant for the interior: Gary Glaser
Artwork : Victor Burgin
Legends: Site plan
Plan of ground floor



The Mediatheque is situated on a break in the course of the former malls of Orleans. The general shape of the building makes it the background for the perspective of the boulevards and at the same time ensures the continuity of the buildings that line them. The Mediatheque has only one large façade that folds in order to link front and sides— it thus gains in impact, and its stature is imposing, despite the strong presence of an uninteresting block of flats, a fairly dull church and the noise and agitation of the RN20, a busy road that passes in front.



A mediatheque is a place of learning, where individuals seek the means to increase their knowledge. The building thus needs to give an idea of this process, which cannot come into play before the user’s curiosity is stimulated. It must therefore proceed in stages, with each field of knowledge leading to another.

The architectural progression mirrors this principle of intellectual progression: each functional space in its design (lending room, reading room, periodicals, cafeteria…) is distinguished by very simple means: symmetry of plan, orientation and unity of colour. Each space is considered as one piece: there are as many pieces as there are elements of the program. They are fitted together according to the dynamic of their relationship.



One must feel that each piece has its own raison d’être, while at the same time integrating the presence of its immediate neighbours. From this arrangement, to which nothing can be added and from which nothing can be removed, a simple, federating form results – that of the principal mass of the building. In the same way that culture cannot be understood in a global manner, the Mediatheque cannot be interpreted as a unity: the pieces, rebellious, jut out, and give the whole of the building a monumental dimension.

Orleans Médiathèque images / text from Du Besset-Lyon Architectes 040708



French buildings

Program : - RDC : reception, hall, exhibition space, auditorium, cafétéria
- R + 1 : salles de consultation
- R + 2 : section jeunesse
- R + 3 : vidéo and discothèque
- R – 1 et R – 2 : storage

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Orleans France Building : page - adrian welch / isabelle lomholt