Ship of culture.

Located in the heart of Evreux, this new mediatheque makes an invigorating contribution to both the civic and cultural landscape.

Through its long-standing programme of mediatheque-building in town and city centres, the French government has made strenuous efforts to bring culture to its citizens. The mediatheque itself is a nebulous yet essentially contemporary typology, that may variously encompass such elements as a library, theatre, cinema, bookshop and gallery. Foster and Partners' mediatheque at Nimes (AR July 1993) is perhaps one of the more conspicuous examples of the genre; yet there are numerous smaller mediatheques in provincial towns and cities which succeed in making modestly invigorating contributions to both the civic and cultural landscape.

Chemetov & Huidobro's mediatheque for the western Normandy town of Evreux is one such example. Located in the historic heart of the town, the new building takes its place among a cluster of civic monuments that includes the town hall, theatre, municipal archives and library. These are arranged around the east and south sides of a Beaux Arts square. The west side is dominated by an imposing fifteenth-century belfry and the remaining north side is given over to an unremarkable array of post-war additions.

As Foster's building exploited the creative tension between a new intervention and the existing historic fabric, so Chemetov & Huidobro's mediatheque registers as a bold modern presence in the heart of Evreux. The building occupies a site flanked by the theatre to the north and the library to the west. It appears separate from the library, but the two buildings are connected at lower ground level. Housing library facilities for adults and children together, with a small auditorium, the mediatheque consists of two parts: a red brick and glass orthogonal slab, topped by an oversailing zinc roof and a seductively curved volume, like the hull of a ship or beached ark, clad in broad strips of red cedar. The smooth cedar plane of the hull is systematically fractured in places, revealing the timber structure and layers of glazing behind. At ground level, the cladding is pared back completely to channel natural light into the lower ground floor. The two main volumes are linked by a tapering, wedge-shaped atrium, containing a triumphal staircase.

Facing into a courtyard, the orthogonal brick and glass volume forms the principal public elevation. A crisply detailed steel and glass entrance portico at the north-west corner leads into a luminous salon devoted to current affairs, with the usual newspapers, audio and video facilities. This is the accessible, informal, public hub of the building. Beyond lies the wedge of the circulation atrium which links through to children's library housed in the hull-like volume.

A section of the ground floor is peeled back to bring daylight into the lower level of the children's library on the floor below. On the first floor is the main adult library, and a free- standing elliptical auditorium; above this are reading rooms and attic-like offices, slotted under the sweep of the zinc mansard. The flat roof of the hull forms an agreeable, southfacing terrace.

As an expression of state- sponsored culture, Chemetov & Huidobro's mediatheque is a notable addition to the life of Evreux's citizens. The skilful interplay of space, light and materials has produced a building that is dignified, yet accessible; contextual, yet clearly of its time.