OM Music Complex

Programme

Renovation and conversion of the existing building into a music and cultural complex.

The renovation of the OM music complex is one element in the reconversion of the lower districts of Ougrée (Seraing), in conjunction with two other sites on which study is in progress: the park on Rue Trasenster, formerly in private hands but to be opened to the public, and the Ateliers Centraux, former industrial spaces currently in use for parking (Baumans-Deffet Architecture et Urbanisme). The 180-metre-long Trasenster footbridge (designed by AgwA) will link the Ateliers Centraux and Trasenster Park. The Ougrée-Marihaye (OM) is a prestigious building designed in 1948 by Georges Dedoyard, an emblematic figure of modernist architecture in Liège. At that time, the building served as a social and cultural centre for the steelworks, which is why it holds a special significance in the memory of the people of Seraing. Emblematic of its time and highly complex, it subtly fits into the slopes of the land. In a particularly degraded condition at the time of the study, it is an interesting example of the reconversion of a piece of the 20th century heritage in the context of a broader spatial and environmental transition. Émeric Marchal (Atelier Chora) says: "The project to transform the OM into a music and cultural complex is a huge, difficult and exciting challenge." A detailed study of the building and its constraints will bring an attitude of respect for the existing building, humble and devoid of arrogance. The aim is to fit it out with the latest technologies, making it accessible to all, meeting standards and turning it into a place of character for artists from all over the world. The project provides magnificent light-filled spaces, pathways rich in discovery, refined details and fine articulation with the existing terrain. This new motor of urban dynamics, this place of exchange, aims to breathe new life into a part of the city which has suffered so much.

Norbert Nelles