Monaco Marine Naval Repair Shipyard

Client: Monaco Marine Group
Commissioned on : January 2007 Part 1 and April 2007 Part 2
Location: La Ciotat France
Total Surface : 4 750 sqm
Environmental Compliance : HQE standards
Cost of construction : 7.6M€ (Tax not included)
Distinction: Projet was listed in Grand Prix Départemental d'Architecture 2007 Awards

Private Client Monaco Marine contracted our firm to design this project’s buildings in the existing and long out-of-commission naval shipyards of La Ciotat. The buildings will house naval repair equipment for megayachts, Monaco Marine’s core business. The project consists of two separate buildings :
- A 2 500 sqm building with workshops and offices
- A 2 250 sqm paint booth and covered berths building
Twenty years had gone by since the last ship ever built in the La Ciotat shipyards was berthed.when Monaco Marine chose the Sahara site with a view to resurrect the facilities in close cooperation with SEMIDEP and dispel sad memories of a waning past of social unrest and industrial dismantlement.
The pivotal new equipment featured by the facilities is a new ship lift fit to berth luxury vessels weighing in the region of 2000 tons.
The extreme care and consideration in the design and the seamless and effortless blending of the buildings in their remakably beautiful settings, the Bec de l’ Aigle, relies on a holistic vision of the volumes involved. Located the shore of the Mediterranean and still within City limits, the project purports to restore to its past glory the city’s former port of call status.
While still paying due respect to the identity of the location and its historical background, our firm took up the challenge of rejuvenating an age old industrial site. The design delved into architectural and cultural references, in full compliance with the Haute Qualité Environnementale standards. The dimensions of the main paint shed building are obviously commensurate with those of the vessels that it will be assigned to shelter : it is 90 meters long, 32 meters tall and 25 meters wide. The client Monaco Marine’s key concern was to preclude any air pollution hazard caused by paint particles. The seamless blending of the building in its settings mirrors the client’s respect for the environment.
The firm upheld architectural integration rules, never marred the gorgeous landscape and still succeded in departing from plain and uninspired warehouse architecture. In all of its aspects, the project pays tribute to a bygone glorious industrial shipbuilding past.