The construction of the new museum of Romanity in Narbonne takes a major architectural step

After opening in 2019, the museum will be one of the most important cultural attractions in the region, hosting more than a thousand Roman tombstones, as well as everyday objects.

This was the first site visit to the new Romanity museum in Narbonne, renamed Narbo Via on this occasion. The project was designed by the agency Foster + Partners in collaboration with the Studio Adrien Gardère, specialized in museum design.

A delegation made up of elected officials and the press had an overview, not only of the scale of the building itself, but also of its overall environmental strategy, embodied in particular by its molded concrete roof supported by load-bearing walls using SIREWALL (Structural Insulated Rammed Earth) technology.

"Now that the building envelope is finished, we can finally discover the richness of this building, which is very encouraging for everyone involved in the project," said Spencer de Gray, design manager at Foster + Partners. The museum is not only an important cultural institution for the region, but it also plays an essential role in revitalizing this district of the city. We warmly thank the Occitanie Region and the city of Narbonne for their support and their ambition. "

A huge glass roof to invite the outside inside

Likewise, this delegation was able to admire the glass construction on the roof, of great elegance, made up of VELUX modular canopies. While many rooms must be protected from the sun, this glass roof will flood with natural light carefully controlled, the common space as well as the emblematic collection of the museum, Roman bas-reliefs exposed on a large dynamic wall.

"The new museum of Romanity in Narbonne is an extremely interesting project because it evokes an elegant dialogue between the past and the future, between the interior and the exterior," emphasizes Brent Møller, architect and designer within the VELUX Group, which developed VELUX modular canopies in close collaboration with Foster + Partners. We are proud to participate in the construction of such a modern cultural site, which, I am sure, will set new standards in museum design. "

The original co-development of VELUX modular canopies with Foster + Partners provided valuable insight in terms of design and functionality, thus guaranteeing optimal use of the system on this project.

The glass roof includes a total of 150 modules distributed over the entire roof in order to provide natural light and improve the thermal performance of the building.