A dialogue between past and present

Cultural heritage is her passion: Architect Angélique Thomas Havart specialises in renovations in this area. In northern France, she and her team from the firm Ar.T architecte recently completed a creative project to breathe new life into a former cinema in a working class district of Santes.
 
The building’s typical architecture dates back to 1900, and this was to be preserved after restoration. The architect’s design was awarded the contract in the tender competition by the Santes city council.

A church, an old school and several residential buildings from 1900 are still preserved in this area of the town. The essence of the old cinema was also to remain unchanged, merely being repurposed as a leisure space for dance events. Angélique Thomas Havart designed an extension connected to the back of the existing building via a glass roof. The entire roof was retiled, which helped integrate the extension into the ensemble.
 
To accomplish this, the architect designed a variation on the existing pattern, typical of the region’s architecture, and created a set of three shades of Koramic roof tiles. The black glazed roof tiles trace a frieze on the red background, which is ocassionally punctuated by a white accent. Here the contemporary style is subtly perceptible, creating a link to the new extension.

In order to establish a strong link between old and new, in addition to the glass roof, the architect also used the roof tiles on portions of the façade. “I chose a pixelated form inspired by the main building to add a contemporary touch to the extension.
 
The flat roof tiles continue downwards from the roof and cover the upper part of the façade”, says Havart. The lower part of the façade is continued in brick. Since a restoration of this sort is uncommon, laying the tiles also posed a challenge for the roofers, says the architect. “In the end, however, they completely committed themselves to the project and strove to achieve a flawless result.” The municipality is also satisfied and praises the harmonious dialogue between past and present, which is expressed through the continuity of the patterns in the roof tiles and bricks.