kengo kuma unveils plans to renovate michelin factory museum in france

the museum on michelin’s former tire manufacturing site

The proposed renovation of L’Aventure Michelin by Kengo Kuma & Associates is planned for Clermont-Ferrand, France, on a former tire manufacturing site linked to the company’s early growth. The museum sits within the Quartier des Pistes, a 1960s industrial complex whose long spans and repetitive frames continue to define the area.

L’Aventure Michelin opened to the public in 2009 as a permanent museum dedicated to the history of the brand founded in the city in 1889. Its galleries chart developments from early rubber products through guidebooks, maps, and tire technologies, using the existing factory building as a spatial backdrop.

visualization © Kengo Kuma & Associates

kengo kuma’s subtle intervention

The proposal by Kengo Kuma & Associates treats the inactive Michelin factory as a fixed spatial field. New architectural elements occupy the museum‘s existing structural grid, aligning with column bays and roof trusses. The architects‘ additions read as interior constructions held within the original envelope, maintaining the measured cadence of the industrial frame.

Changes to the exterior remain limited. Roof adjustments introduce daylight through narrow apertures, while facade openings follow the spacing of the concrete structure. The overall massing remains consistent with the original sheds and preserves the scale of the former production grounds.

visualization © Kengo Kuma & Associates

expressive materials for an industrial project

Within its L’Aventure Michelin renovation, Kengo Kuma & Associates’ interior interventions rely on materials that register at close distance. Timber appears in screens, ceilings, and railings, with visible grain and joinery. Bio-based panels sourced from the region sit alongside exposed steel and concrete, their surfaces defined by texture and edge.

The design language associated with legendary Japanese architect emerges through repetition and assembly. Elements are composed in small increments, assembled by hand-sized components that repeat across galleries and circulation paths.

visualization © Kengo Kuma & Associates

rhythmic spaces flooded with daylight

Movement through the museum follows the proportions of the former factory floor. Narrow corridors pass between structural bays before opening into broader exhibition halls where displays occupy the full width of the space. With its rhythmic sawtooth roof structure, elongated overhead windows guide visitors as they move through different zones of the building.

With daylight entering from overhead, light falls across timber surfaces and concrete planes, catching edges of display cases and floor finishes. Artificial lighting remains secondary to the ambient conditions set by the building section.

The renovation maintains a close connection to its setting in Clermont-Ferrand, where the Michelin company established its first workshops. Retained industrial elements and locally sourced materials keep the building tied to its immediate context.

project info:

name: L’Aventure Michelin

architect: Kengo Kuma & Associates | @kkaa_official

location: Clermont-Ferrand, France

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