Museum of Champagne wine and regional archaeology

The museum and collection

The restoration of Château Perrier into the Museum of Champagne wine and regional archaeology was designed by architects frenak + jullien and supervised by chief architect of Historic Monuments Lionel Dubois. The museum now houses one of the most significant national archaeological collections and has become a remarkable site for the heritage of the Champagne region and its wine. Built from 1852 to 1857, the Renaissance-style château was a place of residence that also served for receptions as well as the production of champagne, thanks to the cellars that were connected directly to the railway line of the time.

The assignment

The main challenge for the architects was to preserve the glory of the past while modernizing the site to current standards and a more contemporary, playful and interactive concept. The transformation of the museum thus embodies the intersection between the identity of a spectacular building and on the other hand exhibition spaces with eclectic themes that cover wine ethnology and regional prehistory. 

We were selected to manufacture and install custom display cases and specific furniture for the four permanent exhibition spaces of the museum. These spaces extend over 850 m² and showcase a collection of more than 100,000 objects. We developed 109 bespoke display cases and plinths to present the richness of the collections. This required the creation of a diversified vocabulary of display furniture, adapted to the nature, enhancement and conservation of this varied range of artefacts.

The project: challenges & results

As part of the call for tenders, Meyvaert was able to provide answers to the technical and aesthetic challenges. The development of display cases based on very specific designs resulted in the creation of a unique exhibition and presentation concept, as imagined by the architects. One particular creation is a table display case showing 150 bottles of champagne. All of the cases and plinths have custom shapes and finishes in solid wood or PMMA, and have been elaborately finished in detail in order to best accommodate the range of the presented works.