Bassins des Lumières

What Bassins des Lumières does

Bassins des Lumières is a single-site immersive digital art centre located inside the former WWII submarine base (La Base) in Bordeaux, France, at Impasse Brown de Colstoun, 33300 Bordeaux. Created and operated by French private company Culturespaces SAS (RCS Paris 8 378 955 116), the venue opened in 2020 and self-describes as the world's largest digital art centre, comprising approximately 13,000 m² of exhibition space organised around two exhibition buildings (La Base and Le Cube) and six visitor spaces: La Base, Le Cube (220 m² soundproofed), La Citerne (155 m² 360°), Les Passerelles (elevated walkways), Les Gradins (tiered seating), and Le Petit Musée de la Base.

The core product is monumental-scale digital projection mapping of curated artworks (currently Matisse, Frida Kahlo) and contemporary digital creations (Oniria, Océan) onto the water surfaces, walls, and architectural features of the converted submarine base. Production and content curation are handled by parent Culturespaces, with technology stack including large-venue projectors and vivenu/Adyen-powered online ticketing. Auxiliary offerings include an on-site gift shop (Librairie-Boutique), food truck and kiosk (Pause Gourmande), on-site parking, a 1-year gift card, and a dedicated corporate venue-hire service.

The revenue model is ticket-driven (full price €16, youth €9, reduced €12.50, school €7, family €43, group from €12.50), supplemented by ancillary streams (F&B, retail, parking, venue hire, gift cards). Tickets are sold direct-to-consumer via own website, on-site box office, dedicated group sales and corporate reception services, vivenu-powered online platform, and 11 third-party resellers including GetYourGuide, Tiqets, Headout, Klook and Smartbox. The addressable customer base spans three segments: general public and tourists (primary), schools/educational institutions, and corporate/MICE clients — the latter accessing venue privatization via [email protected].

Name

Bassins des Lumières

Legal name

Culturespaces SAS

Website

https://bassins-lumieres.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2020

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Bassins des Lumières is a Bordeaux-based immersive digital art centre, operated by Culturespaces SAS inside a former WWII submarine base, offering monumental projected exhibitions (Matisse, Frida Kahlo, Océan, Oniria) to tourists, schools, and corporate clients via timed-entry tickets priced €7–€16.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Immersive Digital Art Center

NAICS

Museums (71211), Museums (712110), Museums, Historical Sites, and Similar Institutions (7121)

akta.pro primary industry

Art Galleries & Exhibition Spaces (Commercial & Nonprofit) (THAJADAH)

akta.pro secondary industry

Specialty & Historic Venues (Landmarks, Estates) (THAHAAAK)

Keywords

• Immersive digital art
• Cultural art exhibitions
• Digital art center
• Venue hire services
• Projection mapping

Headquarters

HQ city

Bordeaux

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Ticket Sales: Primary revenue stream from sale of timed-entry tickets to immersive digital art exhibitions. Individual and group tickets are sold online via the website's integrated vivenu ticketing platform and at the on-site box office. Pricing varies by age category, residency, and group size.
2. Librairie-Boutique (Gift Shop): On-site cultural gift shop selling exhibition-related merchandise, books, and souvenirs to visitors.
3. Food & Beverage (Pause Gourmande): Kiosk and food truck operating at the venue exit, offering sweet and savory refreshments to visitors.
4. Privatisations & Venue Hire: Corporate event venue hire — the Bassins des Lumières can be privately booked for events, receptions, and corporate functions, generating revenue through facility rental and associated services.
5. Parking: On-site parking reserved through the ticketing platform for €2 per vehicle, guaranteeing a parking space for the duration of the visit.
6. Gift Cards: Gift cards (cartes cadeaux) available on the online ticketing platform with flexible monetary amounts, valid for 1 year from purchase for use on the entire programming.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Bassins des Lumières operates the world's largest digital art center inside a converted WWII submarine base in Bordeaux, France. It presents monumental immersive digital projections of classical and contemporary artworks across multiple exhibition spaces (La Base main hall and Le Cube), selling timed-entry tickets to individual visitors, groups, and schools. The venue also generates revenue through venue privatization for corporate events, an on-site cultural gift shop, food and beverage kiosks, parking, and gift cards.

Product overview

Bassins des Lumières is a single physical venue — a former submarine base in Bordeaux converted into the world's largest digital art center — offering immersive monumentally scaled digital projections of famous artists' works and contemporary creations. The venue is structured around two main exhibition spaces: La Base (the main hall, approximately 13,000 m² with a 155 m² cistern for 360° viewing and elevated walkways) and Le Cube (a 220 m² soundproofed space for contemporary digital art). La Base hosts long-program exhibitions such as Matisse and Frida Kahlo, while seasonal exhibitions like Océan and Oniria extend the programming. Le Cube hosts shorter contemporary works. The visitor experience is augmented by ancillary services including an educational space, a cultural gift shop, a food truck, a base history museum, and an online ticketing platform (vivenu). Ticket categories include full price, senior, reduced, youth, family, group, and school rates, plus a gift card valid for one year on all programming.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Matisse, La symphonie des couleurs A long-program immersive digital exhibition dedicated to Henri Matisse's works, projected at monumental scale within La Base, the main submarine-base hall, running from 7 February 2026.
• Frida Kahlo, En plein cœur A short-program immersive digital exhibition dedicated to Frida Kahlo's life and art, presented alongside the Matisse long program from 7 February 2026.
• Océan Seasonal immersive underwater-themed digital exhibition running from 4 July to 30 August 2026, transporting visitors into the submarine world within La Base.
• Oniria A contemporary digital art creation displayed in Le Cube (the 220 m² soundproofed contemporary art space), featuring original works from contemporary artists, running from 7 February 2026.
• Gift Card / Carte Cadeau A gift card with customer-selectable monetary value, valid for one year from purchase date across the entire programming, sold via the online ticketing platform and redeemable for any exhibition.
• Venue Privatization / Corporate Hire Full or partial venue hire for corporate events, receptions, seminars, team-building, and client entertainment, handled via a dedicated reception service ([email protected]) and privatization portal.
• Group Visits Group bookings of 20+ people, school groups, and works councils (comités d'entreprise), handled through a dedicated group sales email service with group pricing starting from €12.50 per person and €7 per school student.
• Librairie-Boutique (Cultural Gift Shop) On-site gift shop selling exhibition-related merchandise, books, and souvenirs to visitors at the venue exit.

Quantifiable outcome

• Visitor duration approximately 1h–1h20 for full programming (Matisse approx. 45 min + Frida Kahlo approx. 15 min + two Cube exhibitions approx. 20 min)

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered flagship and core.

• CulturespacesflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2020Bassins des Lumières is created and managed by Culturespaces, a French SAS specialised in the management of museums, historical monuments, and digital art centres. Culturespaces is the parent company and strategic operator, providing content curation, operational expertise, digital art production, and a network of similar venues across France (Atelier des Lumières Paris, Carrières des Lumières, Hôtel de Caumont, Musée Jacquemart-André). RCS Paris: 8 378 955 116. Head office: 5 rue Catherine de la Rochefoucauld 75009 Paris. Capital stock: €1,144,590. Publication manager: Aurélien Bosc, President of Culturespaces.
• VivenucoreTechnology or IntegrationVivenu GmbH (Kesselstraße 3, 40221 Düsseldorf, Germany) operates the online ticketing platform for Bassins des Lumières (tickets.bassins-lumieres.com). Vivenu sells tickets exclusively on behalf of Culturespaces/Bassins des Lumières and handles the entire online booking flow including gift cards, parking reservations, and payment processing. Vivenu is not the organiser of events.
• AdyencoreTechnology or IntegrationAdyen provides secure payment processing for the vivenu ticketing platform. Credit card payments are processed through Adyen's secure bank servers, with SSL encryption. Bassins des Lumières/Culturespaces does not store credit card details — these are handled exclusively by Adyen.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• teamLab: Japanese interdisciplinary art collective operating immersive digital art venues worldwide (Borderless, Planets, etc.). Closest global scale competitor in immersive digital art exhibitions, comparable on technology and visitor experience.
• Frameless: London-based immersive digital art experience operating multiple galleries with curated projection-based shows of master artists. Closest UK competitor using the same immersive-masterwork format and similar ticketed leisure model.
• Hall des Lumières: Culturespaces' New York immersive digital art centre inside a former immigrant bank. Same genre-defining concept and brand, providing a direct US-market comparable for Bassins des Lumières' positioning and pricing.
• ARTECHOUSE: US pioneer in large-scale immersive digital art installations, with venues in Washington DC, New York, and Miami. Competes directly for tech-savvy cultural tourists and uses rotating contemporary immersive programming.
• Moco Museum: Contemporary and modern art museum with locations in Amsterdam and Barcelona targeting mass-market tourist audiences. Comparable on ticketed contemporary art leisure offerings and tourist-segment focus, though static rather than immersive.
• Carrières des Lumières: Culturespaces' immersive digital art venue located in a former limestone quarry in Les Baux-de-Provence. Identical projection-based business model, same rotating master-artist programming, and shared parent company.
• Atelier des Lumières: Culturespaces' flagship immersive digital art centre in Paris, using the same monumental projection model on landmark industrial architecture. Directly comparable concept, technology stack, and content pipeline, but serving the Paris market.

Broad incumbents

• Van Gogh Museum: Amsterdam-based traditional art museum holding the world's largest Van Gogh collection. Comparable on the master-artist audience that Bassins des Lumières targets through its rotating Van Gogh-style immersive exhibitions, but operates a traditional collection model.

Emerging players

• Moment Factory: Montreal-based studio producing immersive multimedia environments for cultural and public spaces. Comparable technology and creative category, though primarily a creator/producer rather than venue operator, with partial overlap into destination immersive experiences.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCSenG_B0Gux3hmX6T9quZUg
• Facebookfacebook.com/BassinsDesLumieres
• Instagraminstagram.com/bassinsdelumieres
• TikToktiktok.com/@bassinsdeslumieres
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/bassins-lumieres

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Bassins des Lumières