Nanterre-Amandiers Center for Dramatic Art: A Theater Open to the City

Designed by Snøhetta and SRA Architectes, the renovation of the Théâtre Nanterre-Amandiers National Center for Dramatic Art in the western suburbs of Paris continues the site’s legacy as a pioneer of accessible, contemporary French theater.

Sited between Nanterre and the adjacent André Malraux Park, the architecture mediates the transition from urban fabric to parkland through a balanced intervention that enhances and redefines the existing spaces. The original volumes have been preserved and reorganized around a new, expansive atrium that serves as the complex’s focal point. Transparency, fluid connections, and spatial flexibility reinvigorate the building’s identity, creating an inviting, open environment where stage and city intersect.

Dedicated to creativity

Built in the 1960s within an urban landscape undergoing rapid change, the National Drama Center has always pushed boundaries to engage new audiences. Founder Pierre Debauche’s vision to bring theater to those who had never attended became a practical mandate that shaped both the artistic programming and architecture to create a building designed for creativity.

This dual artistic and social commitment also informs the latest renovation. The existing structure has been preserved and reconfigured, integrating new volumes around a completely reimagined grand hall. 

The Grand Hall functions as a covered square, serving as a porous threshold between the city and the park. While retaining its historical character, the space has been completely redesigned across multiple volumes and levels. Expanded upward with a new roof and downward with a sunken plaza, the design doubles the number of entrances to ensure fluid circulation. The renovation’s transparency dissolves the boundary between interior and exterior to give the structure greater permeability. By day, natural light penetrates the volumes to create vibrant, accessible spaces. At night, the building becomes an urban lantern.

Renovating the National Drama Center

The redefinition of the project’s relationship with its context is significant, with the design completely integrating the theater into the surrounding public spaces. Regrading the site opened sightlines through the plantings to allow for a gradual, natural transition.

An expansive plaza extends along the main facade to the intersection of Avenue Joliot-Curie. This public space functions as an urban thoroughfare and social hub, doubling as a waiting area for theatergoers and an outdoor stage for performances. The theater’s new glazed facade follows the perimeter of the plaza, extending down to the lower level. This establishes a direct link between the plaza, the lower atrium, and the former planetarium, revealing previously hidden areas – including a restaurant, bookstore, and social spaces – to the public realm. The resulting large interior volumes reinforce the project’s central concept of a theater open to the public.

Inside, spatial flexibility supports various programs to meet the contemporary demands of the performing arts. Ranging from the renovated main auditorium to more experimental rooms, these performance spaces function as dynamic systems that adapt to various configurations to foster a more direct relationship between performer and audience.

The auditorium’s seating area has been reconfigured while retaining the room’s characteristic shell-like form. Utilizing the existing structure, the new configuration seats up to 800. Integrated acoustic curtains allow the capacity to be reduced to 600 for certain performances, providing flexibility without compromising the room’s architectural quality. To improve comfort and sightlines while strengthening the connection between audience and stage, the renovation has added four ground-level entrances. These are fully accessible for people with reduced mobility from both the upper and lower plazas.

Following a renovation that honors history within a contemporary framework, the National Center for Dramatic Art is again welcoming artists and audiences in spaces designed to support the performing arts both today and into the future.

>>> Related: KPMB Architects’ renovation and modernization of Massey Hall, one of Canada’s most historic and iconic performance venues