The Palais Beaumont

The Palais Beaumont is Pau’s former Winter Palace, designed by the architect Emile Bertrand and built in 1898 on the site of an old villa bought by the city. The Winter Palace, flanked by two Belle Époque-style bell towers, included a theatre, games rooms, a restaurant and, most notably, a large exotic garden, the Palmarium, covered by a huge elliptical glass roof measuring 1,800 m2.

The building was extremely expensive to maintain, however, and fell into disrepair. It was fully renovated in 1928 by Odon de Béarn, who turned the building into a casino. As part of the renovation works carried out by the architect Georges Wybo, the large glass roof was removed and nine large window doors were installed, which offered lots of light and a view onto the Pyrenees.

Further extensive renovation works were carried out in 2006 by the architect François Lombard. The building was modernised and equipped with conference rooms and became a conference centre.