Nautical Pole of Sète, French Architecture Competition Winners, Architectural Folies, Images

Nautical Pole of Sète in Montpellier

19 Apr 2023

Design: NBJ Architectes

Location: Montpellier, France

Photos: Jean-Luc Girod

Nautical Pole of Sète, France

The Nautical Pole is located in an emblematic site at the end of the Saint Louis pier in the port of Sète, near Montpellier in France. With multiple uses for the Société Nautique de Sète (SNS) and the SNSM associations, it ensures the necessary functionality by grouping together nautical activities in its base to accommodate office and social spaces on the upper floor. By its positioning and its materiality, the project aims to blend into the landscape while revealing it. It is from the reception room, which opens onto a vast terrace, that the distant horizon is revealed.

The program also gathers the nautical associations of Sete, the Nautical Society of Sete, and the SNSM. It is also a space for organizing nautical events, such as regattas, and the reception area is widely open onto a vast terrace that offers an exceptional view of the sea.

The choice of simple materiality in concrete was established according to the proximity with the sea, the stakes of perenniality and in order to minimize the maintenance of the building. Simple and sober forms chosen.

The building was worked in a will of insertion in the landscape and is revealed from the distance. A close collaboration with the Architect of Buildings of France was carried out in order to ensure the success of its intention, in particular with the city of Sete and its Mount Saint Clair.

In a will of reflection on materials and short circuits, architects worked with a device for the reuse of local eco-waste: the shells of oysters. To do this, a collaboration was undertaken with COLAS to develop a flooring product made from those oyster shells. The product is called Colstab Ostrea.

Colstab Ostrea® is a coating made from oyster shell sand and a hydraulic binder, which improves the product’s carbon footprint by 50% compared to traditional cement. This waste represents a major challenge for the region, as 10,000 tons of shellfish produced per year generate 8,000 tons of waste. With this product, COLAS is responding to a local environmental issue by giving new use to shellfish waste.

Outdoor areas have been treated with this type of coating, demonstrating the will to build a circular and local economy in this type of project.

Nautical Pole of Sète in Montpellier, France – Building Information

Design: NBJ Architectes – https://nbj-archi.com/
Project name: Nautical Pole of Sète
Location: Pier Saint Louis – Port of Sète (34) – France
Architects: Elodie Nourrigat/Jacques Brion –

NBJ Architectes
Collaborator in charge of the project: Quentin Brion – NBJ Architectes
Owner: Sud de France Port – Occitanie Region
Project area: 850 sqm
Project ending: January 2023

Team: NAS Architectes (Architects associated on the study phase), Photographer: Jean-Luc Girod

About NBJ Architectes
Created in 2000 by Elodie Nourrigat and Jacques Brion, N+B architects became NBJ Architectes in 2013. Both are graduates of ENSAM and obtained Master of Philosophy degrees in 2002. In 2011, Elodie Nourrigat obtained a Ph.D. in Architecture. Both are also professors at the École Nationale Supérieure d’Architecture de Montpellier (ENSAM).

The current structure of the agency brings together a team of professionals with expertise in architecture, urban planning, and sustainable environmental issues who engage in programs to explore new ways of project development. Their projects include a variety of scales, whether architectural or urban.

The firm’s work has been recognized through various awards. In September 2008, they were invited to the French Pavilion of the 11th Architectural Biennale in Venice. That same year, they were awarded the “Europe 40 under 40” prize, distinguishing the top 40 agencies under 40 years in Europe. The Activity Park of Camalcé in Gignac project was the distinguished recipient of the “International Award 2009”, presented by the Chicago Athenaeum Museum. In 2014 they received the AMO – GrDF prize for the maintenance center of the Civil Security Helicopters Group in Nîmes-Garons, and the Coup de Coeur Arcade prize for the Lez-In-Art housing project in Montpellier. In 2019, the Centre Technique Municipal de Blagnac project obtained the “International Architecture Award” awarded by the Chicago Athenaeum Museum.

The team has been educated around the world, including at Laval University in Quebec (Canada), RMIT in Melbourne (Australia), Tohoku University in Sendai (Japan), College of Design at the University of Kentucky (USA), and Syracuse University (USA). Invested in the dissemination of architectural culture, they created and organized the annual Festival des Architectures Vives in 2006, which invites young architects to intervene in the courtyards of private mansions in the city of Montpellier.

Photography: Jean-Luc Girod

Nautical Pole of Sète, Montpellier, Occitania images / information received 190423

Location: Montpellier, France

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