Gabrielle Chanel Galleries

A new staircase in polished white concrete connects the two levels, from the Square Hall adjoining the museum hall to the garden level at the entrance to the new galleries. Sculpted in the mass, a compact block at the base becoming a simple incision in the ground floor floor floor, the staircase is treated in white concrete, continuing the minerality of the ground floor. 

The clear and minimalist object seems to emerge from the floor of the building. This new staircase connects the two architectures in a modern way: the ground floor with its mosaics and painted ceilings on the one hand and the garden floor with its terracotta-coloured brick vaults, stone bases and arches on the other. This same room will host the bookshop-boutique with furniture adapted to the image of the place.

This space articulates the two levels of visit, allowing a continuous visit circuit.

The architects took advantage of the building's special construction system and deep foundations to create a technical level under the existing basement. Indeed, this new level, invisible to the public, houses the complex technical organs necessary for the proper functioning of the exhibition halls, as the delicacy of the textiles on display requires precise control of hygrometry, air temperature and light intensity. 

An excavation, without underpinning, is carried out over the entire surface in order to achieve a disbursement of between 1.40 m and 3.50 m depending on the room. Several thousands of m3 of earth were thus moved by small-sized machines that squeezed under the peristyle and evacuated by means of a conveyor belt.

The devices set up make it possible to accommodate all types of scenography (lighting rails, ground power supply by sockets following a grid...).

The major challenge of the restructuring of the cellars is the enhancement of the existing heritage, by clearing the vaults of all the current networks. The technique thus concealed makes it possible to reveal the brick and stone vaults and walls that journeymen stonemasons have been cleaning and restoring for several months to restore them to their former glory. 

A simple locksmith's rail runs along the upper part of the arches to carry the scenographic lighting and safety equipment. In order to provide acoustic comfort to visitors in these vaulted rooms, the new walls are treated with micro-perforated wooden panels and the floor will be covered with high density black cork parquet.