In 2025, RTL Today wrote a series on a much-loved cultural institution of Luxembourg City: the Rotondes. Now undergoing major renovations with signs of big change coming soon, we explored the site with director Steph Meyers and head of events Tom Karier to catch up on the latest.
For both buildings, the goal is and continues to be an ambitious but clear one: to completely use all the space available to them. First up was the optimisation of Rotonde 1, which had already been more recently renovated.
"It was already entirely in use, [but] there were a lot of things we could do better since our comeback here in 2015", said Meyers.
This includes 38 new double-glazed windows.
"Even people who know Rotondes but don't work here noticed an improvement in the sound inside", Meyers added, "because you don't hear the trains and the planes anymore – which was really an issue for us before."
Major renovations took place to restructure the interior and make use of space now set up for talks and conferences, and to expand the stage. And while the team is sure most won't notice the recently upgraded light structures, this change represents a new milestone in Rotondes' long existence.
"You can move [the light columns] horizontally and you can put them down separately, which was at the beginning not an option, because everybody told us it wouldn't be possible", said Meyers, adding that the 'double-round' nature of Rotondes has always invited interesting challenges. "And after 10 years of investigating, we managed to find the solution."
With Rotonde 1 complete and in fine, fully utilised form, Rotonde 2 is next in line for big change – something visitors can already see through the windows while attending concerts in the Klub concert hall. While the building facade remains the same, three floors and a rooftop are, remarkably, being built into it.
Beyond a greater audience capacity, which will increase from about 200 to over 1,500, the building is also being constructed to allow events to take place simultaneously – something that wasn't previously feasible – and to hold everything currently in what's called the 'container city', including Radio ARA.
"So Radio ARA will be at Rotonde 2, but there are also going to be workshop rooms, a room where artists can be in residency, plus a bigger room that will host everything from conferences to talks – plus lots of technical storage room", Karier detailed.
What will take the place of this container city will be a separate entity altogether: a restaurant or a cafe, welcoming guests no matter the time or season.
The original date planned: 2028.
Meyers shared a more reasonable timeline however: "Within the decade."
As of September 2026, the real work has begun – concrete plans in both senses of the word, Meyers joked. Previously the team had thought that music programming would have to stop at some point, with the major construction and renovation ongoing and likely intensifying.
But with renovation well underway, they're now confident the show can and will go on.
"The plan is to stay open at all times", said Karier. "The construction work already has some kind of impact now on the terrace, on the outsides, but in this configuration […] we were able to host the 'Congés Annulés'", Karier explained, speaking of their annual summer festival. "Maybe in a different shape and form, but it's still feasible."
Every Monday, Meyers and his team have a meeting with the architects, and with the public building authorities. "And our fear is every Monday to have a new retroplanning presented", Meyers revealed. "The risk is always to get a new surprise."
But the 'unplanned' is nothing new to Rotondes.
"You always have to expect the worst, and plan for the worst, and then make the best out of it", Karier said. "That's what makes the DNA of Rotondes."
One clear example of this: they're already hosting an exhibition in November. While fences currently dominate the facade of the building, the team has stepped up to use this as an opportunity.
"The fences are going to be used as an exhibition space", Karier said. "So, this is one example of how we also integrate the whole renovation process into our programme."
While steadfastly remaining as a cultural mainstay of Luxembourg amid massive renovation, it is all par for the course for this team.
"It's made things a lot more difficult for us because we are planning 12 to 18 months ahead", Karier explained. "But at the same time, we are working towards a goal. And if this means adapting our workflows to a new setting in order to be able to reopen in the near future, then this is, in French, you say un mal pour un bien – something bad for a better outcome."
Still, the scale of this undertaking is not lost on the team behind it.
"To be honest, I'm really astonished how complicated this project is. And I'm asking myself, how is it possible to build a skyscraper when this is so difficult?", Meyers shared. "In every kind of way you take it, it's nearly impossible, but it's possible."
Nevertheless, the Rotondes team continues, with shows continuing and many bigger and brighter things ahead. "We are trying to keep this alive because it's our place, and we are used to always being in a transition phase", Meyers concluded. "We have been since 2007. [Rotondes] was never something else."
