Musée du Louvre, Lens

Le Musée du Louvre, under the direction of Henri Loyrette, launched a project to create a branch of the Louvre in Lens, in the Nord-Pas de Calais region, an area undergoing economic and urban regeneration after the decline of local industry. Bringing works of art to this region will have enormous benefits both for Lens and for the Louvre in Paris, even as it presents logistic, social, political and artistic challenges. The Louvre displays major works of art at the museum in Lens in “présentations renouvelées” – new ways of exhibiting and interpreting its great collection. The new museum also shows several temporary exhibitions and one major international exhibition per year, and features a gallery dedicated to regional arts. A major priority for the new museum is the range of innovative and interactive cultural experiences aimed at attracting a broad audience from within the region, as well as tourists to the area. The centerpiece of the new museum will be a 125-metre long History Gallery, which will display a rotating exhibit of 250 works of art from the Louvre collection.

Lordculture, the European office of Lord Cultural Resources, was commissioned by the Région Nord-Pas de Calais to work with regional authorities and the Louvre to provide functional and museological planning for this 28,000 sq. m. (300,000 sq. ft.) museum. Lordculture also provided advice on the technical commission for architect selection, which was won by Tokyo-based firm Sanaa.  We also advised on capital cost projections.

In December 2009, the Louvre broke ground on the site in Lens, and opened to the public on December 12, 2012.