Concrete grafts give new life to a former distillery and slaughterhouse

Dominique Coulon & Associés added contemporary forms to the 19th century building in Strasbourg to create a covered market and cultural centre.

A concrete extension enhances an old industrial building and revitalises the centre of Schiltigheim, one of the most populous suburbs of the Strasbourg metropolitan area. Dominique Coulon & Associés introduces new forms and functions to the historic core of the French municipality.

The building, which for decades housed first a distillery and then a slaughterhouse, has now been transformed in a public facility including an indoor market, exhibition spaces, shops and creative workshops.

The new project blends into the short side of the former distillery, highlighting its access. The exposed concrete graft formally differs from the historical structure but dialogues with the materials of the industrial building’s main facade, left rough and unfinished.

Inside, the French studio’s intervention is characterised by smooth surfaces and sharp forms, while the existing building built in the 19th century is left in its ruinous state.“The rehabilitation project deals with the building in two ways: the emblematic site in the heart of the historic centre of the town has been given a new lease of life, while its heritage and architectural integrity have been preserved. Its mixed programme and the through passage it creates confers on it the status of a public space,” says the architects.

The project by Dominique Coulon & Associés enhances the historical heritage and intervenes without too many reverential fears, interpreting its former spatial performances of the existing building and introducing substantial changes to the interior spaces.