The new Musée de Valence, Art et Archéologie

Reopened to the public this past December, this museum in Valence is yet another of Goppion’s museum installation projects in France.

Located in the old bishop’s residence in the city’s historic center, the architectural restoration was carried out by

Jean - Paul Philippon’s firm and brought together three buildings in different styles and from different eras into a single complex. A fourth more contemporary building was also added.

The museum’s collections range from archeology , which allows the visitor to learn about the history of Valence and the Drôme and Ardèche valleys from prehistoric times to the modern age, to the history of art with paintings, sculptures, decorative arts and furnishings from the 16th century to contemporary art, with a special focus on landscapes.

For the Museum of Valence, Goppion made display cases including 27 custom island and wall models with passive climate-control systems and internal lighting. Goppion’s contribution in terms of engineering in this regard was quite remarkable – the studies carried out (which also included a prototype) led to the realization of an innovative LED bar system with directional lighting that comes from all sides of the display case. Finally, there is a large drawer case in the museum’s warehouse designed and manufactured by Goppion to protect paintings not on display.