The Natural History Museum Of Lille in France will undertake a significant architectural transformation for its 200th anniversary. Snøhetta, selected to restore and modernize the complex, with a transdisciplinary team featuring the scenographer Adeline Rispal and the landscape architects of Taktyk, imagines a renovation that will support the city's ambition to combine urban renewal with the preservation of the city's historic architecture. Planned for completion in 2025 and with a total of 7,500 m², the restoration will accommodate flexible exhibition areas, more extensive storage, and gardens.
Located in the historical region of Flanders, the Museum neighbors the University of Lille, established in 1559, and neo-classical buildings dating from the 19th century. To welcome new college institutions and urban housing, the city is undergoing a significant transformation in conjunction with the Natural History Museum's renovation to commemorate its second century. As such, Snohetta's renovation aims to enhance the institution's prominent position further, making knowledge more available while combining heritage preservation and first-class exhibition design.
The project has two main goals, to integrate the existing building into its urban context and restore the building's overall coherence and identity. The extension will run through all three building sections, connecting the exhibition spaces to new thematic gardens in the Museum's courtyards. The new galleries will function as a toolbox allowing the Museum's teams to assemble various shows offering visitors a constantly changing experience. Designed in collaboration with the renowned exhibition designer Adeline Rispal, they will be flexible and adapted to new display methods associating transversally with a holistic approach to science. The architecture program also includes new dedicated children's areas to provide a visitor experience catered to the future Museum.
Snøhetta, along with project partners Quadriplus, Taktyk, and VPEAS, has developed an ambitious project from an environmental and heritage perspective on multiple levels. The building's exterior will implement high-performing insulation and sealing, integrating energy-saving ventilation equipment and passive cooling. In parallel, the outer aspect is a contemporary reinterpretation of the traditional buildings from the town of Lille, with a brick-clad façade and a soft and comforting interior with wooden finishes.
Bio-sourced and recycled materials are explored to further reduce the project's carbon impact, for instance, by recovering the bricks from demolishing the current extensions. Tree-shaded gardens in the Museum's two courtyards will create cool islands in the heart of the building, allow rainwater to penetrate the ground, and enable the installation of flora and fauna in the urban environment.
Snøhetta has also revealed the design of a mixed-use tower in the Shibuya District of Tokyo and is working on transforming Sydney's Harborside. The harbor will accommodate a 42-story residential building, 13,500 square meters of public spaces, and over 240 meters of water frontage.
