Opéra Grand Avignon

MODEL: Bespoke Avignon

T The Avignon Opera House is a radical renovation of a 19th-century building in the heart of Avignon, France.

Ascénder worked in this project in conjunction with Kanju Scénographie to provide innovative technical solutions for an Italian-style historical theatre like this one. The main challenge was that both the Stalls and the Balconies were designed with curved rows with tight radius. Therefore, all chairs were manufactured with different trapezoid standards – each one different according to its location within the row. From the structural point of view, most chairs have backrests and seats made out of timber with solid wood inner frames. These host a particular upholstery that combines cut foam and classic velvet of 400gr to guarantee both extraordinary comfort and perfect acoustic behaviour in accordance with the parameters required by the consultant.

In addition to the Stalls, there are many other types of chairs all over the venue, some of them really unique: armchairs between columns of less than 40 cm overall width, 150mm higher chairs with footrest, rotating & mural usher seats, standing seats, all kinds of mobile seats, etc.

Meanwhile the solutions for the Upper Balconies also deserve a special mention. Due to safety regulations, chairs with timber backs did not fit. So we replaced all timber backs with plywood panels that in combination with thinner foam maintained the same aesthetics and managed to reduce the total envelope of the armchair down to just 34 cm.

All seats were replaced and the overall capacity of the theatre decreased from 1,100 to 953: a necessary sacrifice in favor of more legroom, wider seats and, above all, vision of the stage for all spectators. Undoubtedly a great technical success of Ascender that managed to provide dozens of solutions to adapt an old classic venue to the current regulations of fire, safety and stability.