MUSICIANS’ MANSION, REIMS

Thanks to the Association Maison des Musiciens de Reims, more than a century after its disappearance, this beautiful facade is reborn. It is small but a great compendium of medieval architectural elements. It presents in particular a rare group of large-scale statuary, four musicians framing an "listener" who holds a hawk in his fist. The conservation of a large part of its sculpted decoration at the municipal museum as well as the abundant documentation have allowed the reconstruction in situ.

The architect Frédéric Coqueret and his team BLP Architectes Associés wished to treat it as soberly as possible so the lighting design concept is in unison. A good level of lighting was required without being unnecessarily bright and remaining correlated with the urban context. In detail, a discreet reference to the old openings is created in shallow relieves. These arches are highlighted at night thanks to fire wall washers and recessed spotlights under the entrance gate. They give a musical rhythm to the facade by light. The cornice separating the two floors also conceals a thin line lighting. And built-in light fixtures at the top of the windows bring the life to the house.

For the statues (repricants of those in the museum), the lighting was smartly provided by 10 mini-spots installed under the two existing street lanterns located in front of the house. They were carefully chosen for their small size in order to conceal them while making sure to obtain aimed lighting effect thanks to very narrow beam and a good color rendering index to magnify the sandstone sculptures. Having a good flexibility at the final lighting adjustment was important to achieve the perfect total balance among different elements.