Grand Palais

Renovation of the Charleroi Exhibition Centre: exhibition halls, creation of a conference centre, car parks and landscaping.

"Since 2012, Charleroi and its Bouwmeester have been pursuing a major urban redevelopment policy, of which the renovation of the Palais des Expositions is highly emblematic.

To meet strict thermal requirements and a limited budget of €450/m2, the architects devised a minimal, circular intervention, retaining the modernist structure designed by Joseph André in 1954. The 40,000 m2 colossus was then divided into three blocks in order to limit the heated and air-conditioned areas to a third.

To the north, a space dedicated to exhibitions and conferences extends over three levels. To the south, a second block houses three floors of parking. Between the two, the former hall, still crowned with its glass brick domes but stripped of its façades, has become a majestic space open to the city. Inside the north block, each floor plays with its original features to offer varied and flexible spaces to meet the wide range of programming requirements.

To carry out the project, the existing structure was also exploited as a resource.

For example, some materials were reused to make the outdoor furniture. The original colours of the columns were retained, while contemporary interventions were highlighted in white. The excavated earth, kept for economic reasons and in order to control any potential pollution, shaped the landscape.

The Exhibition Centre thus responds to the urgent spatial, societal and ecologi- cal transitions while highlighting collective memory and built heritage."

Text : Audrey Contesse