Figueras and Jean Nouvel create unique seating for the Philharmonie de Paris

Figueras International Seating, in partnership with Jean Nouvel Ateliers, has created the seating furnishing the new temple to music in Paris: the Philharmonie. The recently opened building is a unique architectural work in the Parc de La Villette in the French capital. The seating installed was specifically created for the hall and is named after it.

Jean Nouvel has given the concert hall a unique shape - it is an adjustable space that surrounds the spectator. The audience sit in cascading balconies which create a sensation of being suspended in mid-air, surrounded by music. The architect, Jean Nouvel, and the main acoustic engineer for the hall, Sir Harold Marshall of Marshall Day Acoustics, have created a hall with a perfect union of architecture, acoustics and staging.

Challenge 1: demanding acoustic requirements

Figueras worked personally with the acoustic engineers and stage designers to ensure that the seating designed by Jean Nouvel Ateliers fulfilled the demanding acoustic requirements and contributed to the hall's exceptional all-round acoustics. The challenge of the project lay in creating a seat with extremely low acoustic absorption which would allow higher reverberation to be generated. This would compensate for the large size of the hall, despite its appearance, as it is wide and well-cushioned. Various changes to the seating and up to 10 acoustic tests, in laboratories in Paris and Barcelona, were needed to achieve the desired product.

Challenge 2: tailor-made seating for an adjustable hall

Another challenge of the project was to create made to measure seating, a tailor-made product that would adapt perfectly to all corners of the undulating hall. 1,800 Philharmonie model seats were installed, which feature a synchronised back and seat mechanism so that it takes up the minimum amount of space when folded up. The hall also has 282 seats in a variation on the same model with a fixed back for shallow tiers.

The Philharmonie seats have 8 different upholstery colours, 5 different widths and 4 different shades of wood. The wood was treated to get the maximum possible shine, much like pianos, and the different coloured seats mark out different areas, in accordance with the architect's criteria.