Article source: Dominique Coulon & associés

Freyming-Merlebach is a town with a substantial industrial past, in a part of Lorraine that developed in the 19th century, driven by the coalmining industry.

Since the closure of the mines in the 1990s, this part of north-eastern France has seen a sharp increase in unemployment, and culture is seen as one possibility for resolving the accompanying social and economic difficulties in the town, as has been the case in the neighbouring Ruhr region. The historic theatre in Freyming-Merlebach had deteriorated, and a number of cracks appeared as the result of disused underground tunnels. The old 500-seat auditorium needed to be replaced, and it had also become too small.

Image Courtesy © Eugeni Pons

• Architects: Dominique Coulon & associés
• Project: Théodore Gouvy Theatre
• Location: 1 Place des Alliés, 57800, Freyming-Merlebach, France
• Photography: Eugeni Pons, David Romero-Uzeda, Thibaut Muller
• Client: Communauté de communes Freyming-Merlebach
• Construction Supervision: Olivier Nicollas
• Acoustic: Euro Sound Project
• Scenographer: Changement à vue
• Structural Engineering: Batiserf
• Electrical Engineer: BET G. Jost
• Structural Engineering: Batiserf
• Budget: 7 700 000 €
• Area: SHON 2850 m2

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