Foster & Partners - Musée de Préhistoire des Gorges du Verdon

Foster & Partners
Musée de Préhistoire des Gorges du Verdon
Quinson, France

In 1992 Foster and Partners won the international competition to design the Musée de Préhistoire, Europe’s largest museum of prehistory, which opened to the public on April 28, 2001.

The Gorges du Verdon, in Hautes Provence, is an exceptional archaeological site, rich in traces of the life of Stone Age man, to which this new museum is devoted.

Photo: Nigel Young / Foster and Partners

Situated directly opposite the Mairie, town hall, fronted by a small formal square, the design of the Museum established a solid link with the physical environment of the village of Quinson, maintaining at the same time the contemporary character of the building which is integrated into the natural topography of the land.

Photo: arcspace

The site has been cut deeply into the hillside and is dominated by a new curved drystone retaining wall that is over 120 meters long and rises from 7 to 9 meters in height along its length. This blends seamlessly with an existing drystone wall.

Photo: arcspace

The new wall forms the link between the surrounding historical buildings and the new structure; the curve gently drawing visitors into a large entrance atrium. This is accessed via a 9-meter tall galvanised steel entrance screen with double doors flanked by glass panels.

The Museum forecourt has been landscaped to include the village square and the main road into the village. A continuity of material, tarmac and concrete, unifies these three disparate elements to create a larger space, able to host events relating to the museum and the village.

Quinson is characterised by traditionally constructed buildings and drystone walls; the museum responds to this context by using local materials in their simplest and most expressive form; local stone, sandblasted concrete, galvanised steel, glass and painted plasterboard.

Photo: arcspace

The main eastern elevation is sandblasted exposed concrete panels. The aesthetic quality of the exposed concrete and the desire to avoid all bolt holes in the visible faces demanded an in-depth study of construction methods and extremely high standards of craftsmanship.
A painstaking process was undertaken to match the colour of the concrete to the local stone.

Photo: arcspace

The triple height entrance atrium, containing the temporary exhibition space, a shop and cafe, is designed to be refreshing and cool on a hot day, reminiscent of the caves the museum celebrates.

From the atrium a curved ramp leads up to the first floor to begin the circular route around the Museum display. Here ambient light levels are kept to a minimum, and light is focused on the objects rather than the space.

Photo: arcspace

The building is highly energy efficient; the thermal mass of the hillside and the exposed concrete structure provide a thermal buffer, as does the plant room that runs the length of the exterior wall on the first floor. The whole of the building is provided with conditioned air, primarily to even out the extremes of temperature that occur in this area and to help control the high heat output of the expected visitor numbers.

Photo: arcspace

The museum includes areas for the display of the permanent collection, a temporary exhibition gallery, study areas for academic staff, a reference library, administrative offices, laboratories for research on artifacts and a teaching area for visiting school groups. A 100-seat auditorium can be used independently in the evenings for village events and can be linked to other auditoria via the Internet to facilitate net conferencing.

Drawing courtesy Foster & Partners
Site Plan

Drawing courtesy Foster & Partners
Plan

Drawing courtesy Foster & Partners
Section

Area:
4,500 square meters

Competition: February 1992
Appointment: October 1992
Construction: Start 1997
Completion: 2001

Client: Conseil Général Des Alpes-de-Haute-Provence
Project Manager: Sous-Direction de l’Architecture et Des Bâtiments (SDAB)

Architects: Foster and Partners
Maîtrise d’Oeuvre: Bruno Chiambretto (museographer)

Project Team:
Norman Foster
Ken Shuttleworth
Max Neal
Michel Foex
Graham Longman

Competition:
Grant Brooker
John Drew
Richard Hyams

Architecte d’opération: Olivier Sabran
Structural Engineers: SEV Ingénierie
Mechanical & Electrical: SEV Ingénierie
Technical Controller: Bureau Véritas
Quantity Surveyors: Davis Langdon Economistes
Acoustic Engineering: Sandy Brown Associates
Lighting Design: Claude Engle
Landscape Design: Desvigne & Dalnoky

June 3, 2002

Norman Foster arcspace features





				Features
		Foster & Partners Musée de Préhistoire des Gorges du Verdon Quinson, France In 1992 Foster and Partners won the international competition to design the Musée de Préhistoire, Europe’s largest museum of prehistory, which opened to the public on April 28, 2001. The Gorges du Verdon, in Hautes Provence, is an exceptional archaeological site, rich in traces of the life of Stone Age man, to which this new museum is devoted. Photo: Nigel Young / Foster and Partners Situated directly opposite the Mairie, town hall, fronted by a small formal square, the design of the Museum established a solid link with the physical environment of the village of Quinson, maintaining at the same time the contemporary character of the building which is integrated into the natural topography of the land. Photo: arcspace The site has been cut deeply into the hillside and is dominated by a new curved drystone retaining wall that is over 120 meters long and rises from 7 to 9 meters in height along its length. This blends seamlessly with an existing drystone wall. Photo: arcspace Photo: arcspace The new wall forms the link between the surrounding historical buildings and the new structure; the curve gently drawing visitors into a large entrance atrium. This is accessed via a 9-meter tall galvanised steel entrance screen with double doors flanked by glass panels. The Museum forecourt has been landscaped to include the village square and the main road into the village. A continuity of material, tarmac and concrete, unifies these three disparate elements to create a larger space, able to host events relating to the museum and the village. Quinson is characterised by traditionally constructed buildings and drystone walls; the museum responds to this context by using local materials in their simplest and most expressive form; local stone, sandblasted concrete, galvanised steel, glass and painted plasterboard. Photo: arcspace Photo: arcspace The main eastern elevation is sandblasted exposed concrete panels. The aesthetic quality of the exposed concrete and the desire to avoid all bolt holes in the visible faces demanded an in-depth study of construction methods and extremely high standards of craftsmanship. A painstaking process was undertaken to match the colour of the concrete to the local stone. Photo: arcspace The triple height entrance atrium, containing the temporary exhibition space, a shop and cafe, is designed to be refreshing and cool on a hot day, reminiscent of the caves the museum celebrates. From the atrium a curved ramp leads up to the first floor to begin the circular route around the Museum display. Here ambient light levels are kept to a minimum, and light is focused on the objects rather than the space. Photo: arcspace Photo: arcspace The building is highly energy efficient; the thermal mass of the hillside and the exposed concrete structure provide a thermal buffer, as does the plant room that runs the length of the exterior wall on the first floor. The whole of the building is provided with conditioned air, primarily to even out the extremes of temperature that occur in this area and to help control the high heat output of the expected visitor numbers. Photo: arcspace The museum includes areas for the display of the permanent collection, a temporary exhibition gallery, study areas for academic staff, a reference library, administrative offices, laboratories for research on artifacts and a teaching area for visiting school groups. A 100-seat auditorium can be used independently in the evenings for village events and can be linked to other auditoria via the Internet to facilitate net conferencing. Drawing courtesy Foster & Partners Site Plan Drawing courtesy Foster & Partners Plan Drawing courtesy Foster & Partners Section Area: 4,500 square meters Competition: February 1992 Appointment: October 1992 Construction: Start 1997 Completion: 2001 Client: Conseil Général Des Alpes-de-Haute-Provence Project Manager: Sous-Direction de l’Architecture et Des Bâtiments (SDAB) Architects: Foster and Partners Maîtrise d’Oeuvre: Bruno Chiambretto (museographer) Project Team: Norman Foster Ken Shuttleworth Max Neal Michel Foex Graham Longman Competition: Grant Brooker John Drew Richard Hyams Architecte d’opération: Olivier Sabran Structural Engineers: SEV Ingénierie Mechanical & Electrical: SEV Ingénierie Technical Controller: Bureau Véritas Quantity Surveyors: Davis Langdon Economistes Acoustic Engineering: Sandy Brown Associates Lighting Design: Claude Engle Landscape Design: Desvigne & Dalnoky June 3, 2002 Norman Foster arcspace features