Narbo Through Museum / Foster + Companions

Textual content description offered by the architects. Narbo Through – a brand new museum of Roman antiquities in Narbonne – has formally opened following an inauguration ceremony attended by the conseil de la Area Carole Delga. The constructing, designed and engineered by Foster + Companions is about to change into a brand new landmark on the entrance to the town, on a website adjoining to the Canal de la Robine.

Raised on prime of a podium, the museum offers a way of restrained civic and architectural monumentality on the entrance to the town. The constructing incorporates galleries for everlasting and short-term exhibitions, a multimedia schooling centre, auditorium, restaurant and bookshop, in addition to analysis, restoration and storage services. Externally there are formal gardens and an amphitheatre for out of doors performances.

The centrepiece of the museum is a ‘Lapidary Wall’, which types a pure boundary on the coronary heart of the museum, separating the general public galleries from the extra personal restoration areas. Guests can glimpse the work of the archaeologists and researchers by its mosaic of stone and lightweight. The versatile show framework permits the reliefs to be simply reconfigured and used as an energetic software for studying.

The museum areas are unified beneath a concrete roof cover, which offers thermal mass and contributes to a complete environmental technique. The cover is elevated above a clerestory, punctuated with mild wells, and it extends to supply a cover over the walkways across the museum. As a part of its sustainable environmental agenda, impressed by Roman expertise, the vast majority of the companies within the constructing are contained inside a subterranean void. The cool air is pushed out at a low stage and at low velocity, permitting a smaller quantity of air to be conditioned, whereas sustaining a snug surroundings. The massive spatial volumes fashioned by the excessive ceilings create a thermal flywheel impact that naturally pushes heat air upwards, from the place it’s exhausted.

The structure is knowledgeable by an sincere strategy to supplies which extends to the expression of the colored concrete partitions. Layers of dry-mixed concrete had been tamped into place on-site, the resultant stratification calls to thoughts not solely the archaeological nature of the museum, but in addition the inherent look of Roman concrete. The structural response additionally follows an identical strategy that’s underpinned by simplicity. The partitions are stable, thermally insulated and cargo bearing. They help the roof with bolstered concrete double-T-beams that span onto a grid of bolstered concrete beams. The glazing across the enclosure merely bolts straight into the concrete partitions.

The landscaping reinforces the reference to the canal to create a tranquil pure setting. Impressed by formal French gardens and the Roman courtyard, the museum’s grounds function an amphitheatre for open- air shows and occasions. The design anticipates a welcoming, landscaped entrance by way of a brand new ramp that hyperlinks the museum to the prevailing towpath alongside the Canal de la Robine. This may create a serene pedestrian connection to the town centre, which can now be solely a brief stroll from the museum.