Salle Métropole is located inside the Tour Bel-Air, the first skyscraper in Switzerland, built by Alphonse Laverrière and completed in 1932. The building and its 15-storey tower were planned from the design stage to accommodate offices, housing (equipped with the most modern technologies of the time such as electricity, refrigerators, showers and telephone), a restaurant and the auditorium. Alphonse Laverrière also designed several decorative elements of the performance hall such as the brass door handles as well as the monumental chandelier spanning several floors which is still there today. Joséphine Baker and Louis Armstrong performed in the 1930s in the Salle Métropole which served as a movie theater between the 1950s and 1988.
It was opened again in 1992 as a performance hall and is now the residence of the Chamber Orchestra of Lausanne. It also hosts a variety of shows ranging from concerts to comedy, through plays, dance and song. Several renovations have taken place since then and the Salle Métropole can now host between 500 and 2000 people.
Tour Bel-Air
Tour Bel-Air
Salle Metropole exterior
Salle Métropole
Salle Métropole
Salle Métropole
Salle Métropole
Salle Métropole
Salle Métropole
