Zénith de Rouen, Concert hall in Le Grand-Quevilly, France
The Zénith de Rouen is a concert hall in Le Grand-Quevilly, in the Rouen metropolitan area. Its main hall is a wide cylindrical volume clad in horizontal grey metal panels, divided by vertical ribs, with a glazed single-storey base and two tall masts held by cables above the roof. Inside, capacity ranges from 850 to 8,000 seats depending on the show, with a 450 m² stage.
An architecture competition launched in September 1997 selected Bernard Tschumi in March 1998, and construction began on 3 March 2000. The hall was inaugurated on 25 February 2001 by its sponsor Patrick Bruel, making it the tenth Zénith built in France. Tschumi received an American Institute of Architects award for the project.
The venue is named after the Zénith circuit, and Rouen's was the tenth such hall built in France. Its godfather is singer Patrick Bruel, who inaugurated it on 25 February 2001. Five years on, it had drawn 1,300,000 spectators, the second-highest attendance among French performance halls at the time.
Parking is the exhibition centre's own free car park, holding 4,200 vehicles and open to cars, coaches and visitors with reduced mobility. It has a single entrance, so leaving after a full show can take up to an hour; some drivers park on the pavements of Avenue des Canadiens to avoid the queue. The venue is served by Astuce lines T4, F6, F9 and 228 and Nomad, at the Zénith-Parc Expo stop, and two Astuce buses leave 20 minutes after each show, one eastbound and one westbound, connecting with the Noctambus.
The hall is the tenth Zénith built in France. Its architect, Bernard Tschumi, received an award from the American Institute of Architects for the project, and Patrick Bruel inaugurated it on 25 February 2001 as its sponsor.
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