The Musée d’Orsay is located in the former Gare d’Orsay, an impressive railway station designed for the Universal Exhibition of 1900. It is organised on three levels: the ground floor, where the galleries are distributed on both sides of the central nave, which is reinforced by the terraces on the middle level, and which in turn open onto additional exhibition galleries, and the upper floor, which is installed above the lobby. The museum also houses a restaurant, a bookshop and an auditorium.
The auditorium, designed more than twenty years ago, was recently completely renovated. As the architect Antoine Rouzeau explained to us, the problem of accessibility for people with reduced mobility was insufficient, so this problem was at the origin of this necessary renovation.
This prestigious venue hosts all kinds of performances: from shadow theatre to opera, concerts by philharmonic orchestras, film presentations or conferences. The auditorium’s mission is to present any type of event, performance or representation.
According to Antoine Rouzeau, “The renovation was an opportunity to modernise the auditorium and renew the floor and the seats, which date back to 1986. The configuration of the hall was revised, but the challenge was to maintain the maximum seating capacity. The distance between the seats has been preserved”.
Located on level -2, below the museum’s reception area, this intimate room has exceptional acoustics, so its modernisation was also a challenge for Figueras, as designer and manufacturer of the auditorium’s seating.
The renovation of the space includes a total area of 340 m² with 330 automatically folding seats, under the requirements of an elegant design and leather finish. The Figueras Flex 6076 model was chosen to provide the widest possible seating and ensure maximum user comfort while maintaining the largest possible seating capacity. In addition, it is a seat of great durability and excellent acoustic performance. It complies with fire resistance regulations, and the automatic folding of the seat and the arrangement of the seats in the room guarantees rapid evacuation of the room if necessary.
