Alveole 14 | LIN - Architects Urbanists

THE HARBOR

The submarine base of St NAZAIRE, constructed by the German Navy during World War II, is directly located at the harbor of the old town. It has an enormous scale (295 m x 130 m x 18 m) with concrete walls up to 9 meters thick. This raw and impressive structure is transformed with minimal interference. Two of the 14 former submarine cells are transformed into cultural elements: LIFE and VIP.

THE SUBMARINE BASE AND THE CITY

The central location in the old town made it the target of air raids from 1942 onwards, which destroyed 85% of the city.

Reconstruction of the city began in1949 further away from the harbor under the direction of the architect Noël le MERESQUIER. The virtually unscathed bunker remained a powerful obstacle between the city and the harbor.

PROJECT "VILLE-PORT"

Since the 1990’s, the city of Saint-Nazaire has made efforts to revive the historical link between the city center and the harbor. In 1991, lighting artist KERSALE illuminated the industrial harbor with his project, "Nit des Docks". In 1994, the urban planning project "Ville-Port" was started.

BATTEAUX, the mayor of Saint-Nazaire, declared the base as central to the future development of the city. In the first phase, under the direction of the Barcelonan architect Manuel de Solar-Morales, four cells at the center of the bunker opened up and the roof was fitted with a ramp accessible to the public.

ALVEOLI 14

The project consists of 4 elements:

The LIFE, a space for emerging art forms; the VIP, hosting contemporary music events, recording studios, and an archive; the STREET, the main conduit traversing the entire Bunker, connecting the various programs and creating interaction between each of the cells; and the roof and Radom.

THE STREET

A ‘carpet of light’ hanging from the ceiling made of metal rods and LEDs defines the space, shaping dark volumes along this path between old and newly created spaces.

A vertical Piranesi's connection was created to bring natural light into the tunnel and to connect the main spaces to the upper floors and roof.

THE LIFE

The LIFE is a 90 m x 20 m x 18 m MONOSPACE.

Occupying the bulk of the former submarine basin, it has been equipped minimalistically: corrugated metal ceiling; two scenic walkways; a retractable gate opening onto the harbor; a concrete floor mixed with quartz powder. The vertical walls have no treatment.

THE VIP

The VIP is designed as a black box venue for contemporary music performances: perfect acoustic control, 600- person capacity, equipment catwalks, and recording studios.

A bar overlooks the double-height space.

THE ROOF AND THE RADOME

The bunker is intrinsically ambivalent: it is at once a barrier and a hub. By invigorating the roof through a focal visual point and making it visually approachable, it has the potential to become one of the most important public sites of the city.

A large stairway rises through a hole in the bunker ceiling opening onto an experimental platform housing the radome: a geodetic dome construction that was previously in use as a covering for the strategic radar unit at the Berlin Tempelhof Airport from 1984 until 2003. Its aluminium frame makes up 298 triangles, each covered with a translucent membrane.