Couvent des Urbanistes – conservatory

The Couvent des Urbanistes is part of the rich historical heritage of the town of Fougères. It houses local community groups as well as facilities such as the inter-municipal conservatory, the community Visual Arts School and the Albert Bourgeois Art Gallery. The renovation and extension project responds to functional and comfort shortcomings.

The contemporary extension, accommodating the artistic spaces, blends into the site in an echo of and in harmony with the former convent. In contrast with the mineral context around it, the project is clad in Corten steel of a warm, deep brown. This contrast in material does not, however, create a break. This steel, which sits so well in heritage contexts, is, like stone, a living material and a fine evocation of the passage of time.