An emblematic place in Royan labeled “Heritage of the 2013th century”, the Palace has been listed as a Historic Monument since XNUMX. Small retrospective on the history of the Palais des Congrès.
The origins of the Palais des Congrès
Royan Convention Center was one of the first built in France. Work of the architect Claude Ferret, assisted by Pierre Marmouget, Jacques Bruneau and Adrien Courtois, it was built between 1954 and 1957.
After Allied bombing of January 5, 1945, the Casino de Foncillon is destroyed. It is in place of it that the Palais des Congrès was built during the Reconstruction. Similar to the Pampulha Yacht Club, this parallelepiped raised on stilts seems to float facing the sea. The large performance hall then takes the form of a rotunda. The perforated aluminum panels from the Prouvé workshops offer plays of light and shadow to which are added those of the square openings of the stage wall. Make way for curves and straight lines, we dare to use concrete, roof terraces, color and new architectural and decorative solutions: sunshades, sliding shutters, perforated walls...
If inspired by brazilian school, the building subsequently underwent a succession of transformations. He ends up losing his soul there. At the end of the 1970s, the addition of a glazed facade and a cubic annex on the garden side distorted the initial project.
The renovation of the 2020s
Between 2021 and 2023, the Palace is being renovated to regain its "fifties" look. He thus finds the spirit of his construction, under the aegis of Claude Ferret. It's his son,architect Pierre Ferret who is in charge.
Concretely, we therefore obviously chose to erase the traces of the resumptions of the 1970s and following, for what they have of attack on the architecture of the 50s, only object of the protection of the Historical Monuments.
The restoration and conservation of the original elements were essential imperatives of this project. The artist Nadu Marsaudon was entrusted with the creation of a new fresco, the previous one having been destroyed following the works.
In addition, the possibilities of integrating equipment into this architecture that complies with current standards of comfort and safety offer the city Royan a space adapted to economic meetings and cultural events.
The Palace constitutes a facility of high architectural quality. Its own unique identity affirms its originality and that of Royan.
