peter rice

The construction of Lille Cathedral
began in the eighteenth century but
the building was left unfinished and
the west facade is currently an
unsightly temporary infill.
Monseigneur Vilnet, the Bishop of
Lille, is instigating a refurbishment of
the cathedral and a new west front.
Pierre-Louis Carlier, a prominent
architect in Lille, has assembled a
team with a developer Cogedim, an
artist, Ladislas Kinjo and Peter Rice as
engineer to create a new facade.
Pierre Louis Carlier's new facade
consists of a tower on the left side
which houses a belfry, a central bay
designed by RFR and a re-surfacing
of the remaining existing structure in
copper leaf.
A glass and stone facade is
suspended from the stone arch. A thin
marble layer is bonded to glass such
that it acts as a light filter. Seen from
the inside, the grain and colour of the
stone enrich the quality of the light.
Varying the nature and thickness of
the stone varies the light colour and
intensity.
The rose window is conceived by the
artist Kinjo. It is in stained glass made
by a descendant of the Gruber family
of stained glass artists. The traditional
stained glass t~chniques are
integrated with a modern engineering
solution for the bracing structure using
pre-stressed cables. The geometry of
the cable structure was composed in
collaboration with the artists as a
relief element in their composition.
The central bay is entirely in stone
with a stainless steel tension bracing
system. The arch is curved in section
for bending stability. It is in the same
'pierre bleu' used for the original
cathedral. The bracing structure is
prestressed such that the stone is
always in compression as the strength
of stone is its compressive capacity.
In tension or bending it is very weak.
32