remodelling of the saint nazaire submarine base, france
DESCRIPTION
REMODELLING OF THE SAINT NAZAIRE SUBMARINE BASE, FRANCETRANSCRIPT
REMODELLING OF THE SAINT NAZAIRE SUBMARINE
BASE
CONSTRUCTION PROJECT AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE TO THE
CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT
France, 1998-2000
• General floorplan of development.
• Details of the interior of the Base.
• Aerial view of the Saint Nazaire Base in the
foreground, on the right hand side.
• General view of the facade where an access
ramp can be seen on the left hand side.
The conversion of the interior of the
Saint Nazaire Submarine Base, built
by the Germans during World War II,
into a space for recreation,
shopping and leisure was designed
in close collaboration with the
architect Manuel de Solà-Morales.
This impressive building has a
ground floorplan of 300x130 m2 and
a floor to ceileing height of 18 m.
Over 480,000 m3 of concrete were
used to build it.
The intervention includes the
connection between the different
cells and the creation of docks,
platforms and drawbridges in the
new pedestrian corridors that were
created. The docks and platforms at
the side of the harbour were
designed using a galvanized metal
structure and wood paving and
anchored to the existing walls by
means of corrugated bars and/or
prestressing cables.
New walkways, stairs and platforms
were also included between the roof
and the street level, with a metal
structure and wood or metal plate
paving that are anchored to or
suspended from, the concrete roof
and walls of the Base.
The inflow of water from the harbour
into the cells (a distance of
approximately 85 m) was prevented
by means of reinforced concrete
dykes and partial dredging.
To increase permeability within the
Base, openings of different sizes
were made in the walls, up to 1.2 m
thick, separating the cells; in some
cases this required the
reinforcement of the resulting lintels
with prestressed concrete.