Le Schuylkill | Zaha Hadid Architects

The Existing Building

Built in 1963, Le Schuylkill Tower was the first high rise building constructed in Monaco.
Occupying a prominent position in Monte Carlo, the residential tower overlooks the
principality’s Port Hercule with panoramic views south to royal palace, the old town, and
beyond to the Mediterranean Sea.
The Schuylkill is a residential building which sits on a steep site and is accessible from both
the Boulevard de Suisse to the North and the Avenue de la Costa to the South. The
declivity across the site is considerable at 22m.
Architecturally, the existing building is well adapted to the site and has been configured to
benefit fully from the views towards the sea and to manage the steep topography of the
site. In plan it is arranged in an open 'U' shape to maximise the number of apartments with
sea facing views. All apartments have balconies providing outdoor space.
In section, the building is arranged into 2 distinct parts; the lower part comprising 7 storeys
built against the rock face and the upper part comprising 17 storeys but split into 3
individual blocks, each with a vertical circulation core on the North side of the building.
There is no horizontal circulation between the 3 blocks above ground.
Programmatically, the lower part of the building contains car parking, cellars, storage,
service rooms and technical rooms. The upper part is all residential accommodation
ranging from small studio apartments to large 4-bedroom apartments. The existing
building provides 188 apartments, 5 service rooms, 145 car parking spaces and 198 cellars
for the residents’ personal storage.
Structurally, the existing building is a reinforced concrete frame arranged in 2 distinct
parts. The lower part (Ground to basement level 7) comprises a single block (35m x 48m)
and the upper part comprises 3 separate vertical blocks. The floor slabs in the lower levels
are solid concrete whilst in the upper parts they are beam and block slabs with a concrete
infill approximately 10cm thick. Covering the concrete in the upper residential areas is a
5cm thick layer of sand, providing effective acoustic insulation between floors.
All load bearing columns run vertically through the entire building. As the entire site is
against load bearing rock the foundations are shallow pads and there are no retaining walls
around the perimeter.
The building services are distributed vertically, from plant rooms in the basement, through
the stair and lift cores and various risers across the floor plates. Generally speaking,
ventilation and water distribution are located in risers across the floor plates whilst the
core areas contain electrical distribution and waste chutes.
Hot water production, including central heating, is powered through 2 oil-fired boilers and
a 30,000 litre fuel storage facility. Hot water distribution is achieved using 4 electrically
powered pumps. Each apartment is fitted with individual electrically powered hot water
tanks for domestic hot water (bathrooms). Wastewater, grey water and rain water are all
collected and evacuated separately.
Ventilation in the apartments is achieved with a "shunt" type system using natural
ventilation (Stack Effect). There are 22 ducts distributed across the floor plate and running
vertically through the building and extracted at roof level. Internally, the extract grills are
located in the bathrooms, toilets and kitchens. The majority of the apartments are dual-
aspect allowing cross-flow ventilation to supplement the shunt ventilation system. There is
no mechanical air conditioning in the existing building.
There is no mechanical smoke extraction either. In the residential parts, the staircases are
naturally ventilated through the facade and in the car park areas there are grills distributed
around the perimeter walls providing cross ventilation. There are between 22-26 car
spaces per floor, spread over 6 floors.
The main building façade comprises uninsulated single skin masonry blockwork walls with
mosaic tiles on the exterior. The glazed doors and windows are extruded, anodised
aluminium frames with single glazing. All glazed openings are fitted with roller shutters on
the outside. The balconies are continuous around almost all the building’s perimeter and
are fitted with retractable solar blinds providing shade on the balconies. The façade on the
existing stairwells are solid stone louvers with a 50% clear opening to provide for natural
smoke extraction.

The Project Brief
Following a detailed feasibility study, the client developed a detailed brief based on the
condition of the existing building and the building’s legacy, both past and future.
Key elements of the brief were developed around the appearance of the building, current
requirements of the local rental market, longevity and maintenance, environmental
opportunities, and the structural capacity of the existing concrete frame. An important
requirement from the client was that the building had to remain in use during the building
works.
The key elements of the brief are:
• Demolition of floors +15, +16, +17 and creating a transfer slab at high level on floor +14
to develop 6 new penthouses.
• New insulated building envelope with improved solar protection.
• Refurbishment and extension of the existing balconies.
• Replacement of all existing building services and connection to the municipal sea water
loop.
• New amenity facilities for residents, including, gym, pool, spa rooms and Clubhouse.
• New resident’s entrance from the Ave da la Costa on basement level 5.
• Reinforcement of the existing concrete structure to meet current seismic requirements.
• Complete strip out, reconfiguration and refurbishment of the existing apartments.
• Excavation and extension of the existing car park and technical spaces, including the
creation of a new car park ramp.
The new project provides an increase of 9,000 m2 GFA from 32,000 m2 to 41,000 m2.

The Refurbishment Project Description
The use and functionality of the refurbished building remains predominantly unchanged
from the existing.
From basement level 4 up to level 14 the existing apartments are retained, remodelled and
fully refurbished to meet the current expectations of the local rental market. All
refurbished apartments are now fitted with new M.E.P. services, kitchens, bathrooms and
interior finishes including improved acoustic and fire insulation. The fixtures, fittings and
finishes are simple and good quality.
Levels 15, 16 and 17 are entirely new and provide accommodation for 6 penthouses. Level
15 has three single storey penthouses whilst the upper penthouses are arranged as
duplexes. The penthouses are aimed at the luxury market and provide a bespoke, high end
fit out, providing spacious, open plan layouts maximising natural light and panoramic
views.
Whereas the existing apartments up to level 14 have reused the existing layouts, including
structure and service risers, the spatial requirements of the penthouses required a transfer
slab to redistribute structural loads and deviate services to create large, open plan spaces
and generous outdoor terraces.
The existing entrance lobby has been extended and better integrated with the car drop off
at the front of the building and the landscaped gardens. The entrance lobby is for residents
and their guests. It’s a single space that connects all 3 residential blocks as well as the
basement levels. It also contains a fully equipped co-working space for the residents. The
logistics entrance is separated from the resident’s entrance. The logistics entrance is at
basement level 1 and this floor has been completely reconfigured to provide improved
facilities (deliveries, storage, removals, maintenance access, security systems, etc) and
technical rooms.
At basement level 5, along the Avenue de la Costa, where the new resident’s facilities have
been located, a new secondary entrance has been created. The new secondary entrance
allows the residents better pedestrian access to the port and allows guests to arrive
directly to the Clubhouse amenities.
The new clubhouse provides a large dining room, bar, lounge, and catering kitchen. Given
the comparatively modest size of the existing apartments, the Clubhouse provides a facility
for residents to entertain larger groups of family and friends. On level basement 5,
resident’s also have access to a shared pool, gym and spa rooms.
In basement levels 2 to 6, the existing car park has been extended to introduce an internal
ramp, an additional 162 car parking spaces with full EV provision and bicycle and
motorbike parking. The new car park is now mechanically ventilated and equipped with a
sprinkler system.
Externally, along the Boulevard de Suisse, the landscaped planters are expressed using
long, low undulating stone ‘ribbons’. The landscape, car drop off area and the main
entrance lobby are treated as an entity using form and materiality to connect them and to
create a greater sense of arrival to the Schuylkill. On the South side of the building, along
Avenue de la Costa, the landscape is treated as tiered gardens from level basement 6 to
basement level 3 where the landscape blends into the base of the building.
The new landscape been equipped with a watering system using rainwater recycling and all
new plants have been selected for the low water requirements. Where feasible, existing
plants have been transferred and retained.

The New Building Envelope
Architecturally, the façade design distinguishes between the existing building
refurbishment and the new build program. The façade design also resets the silhouette of
the building at its crown and redefines the building’s connection with the ground along the
Avenue de la Costa.
Broadly, there are 5 main façade types:
1. The ceramic rainscreen on the existing building,
2. The aluminium louvers on the existing stairwells on the North side of the
building,
3. The window walls enclosing the new build program at both high level and low
level of the new build program,
4. The large format coated aluminium panels forming the fascia cladding of the
terraces and balconies of the new build program,
5. The stainless-steel shell canopy over the entrance lobby at ground floor level.
The ceramic rain screen cladding build- up provides a ventilated cavity on thermal
insulation which is fixed back to the existing concrete frame and masonry. The windows
and doors are thermally broken, anodised aluminium double glazed units fitted with
external venetian blinds.
The existing staircases on the North façade are extended to serve the new upper levels and
clad with new extruded anodised aluminium louvers. The louvers are individually oriented
at variable angles to prevent see-through views. Spacing is controlled to comply with the
50% opening for natural smoke extraction.
The penthouse facades between floors 15 and 17 are floor to ceiling double glazed units
with minimalist frames which incorporate motorized sliding doors and exterior venetian
blinds for solar protection. The panoramic views from the penthouses are spectacular, so
opaque parts are kept to a minimum. Decorative stainless-steel fins provide visual privacy
for the bathrooms and hide structural elements.

The New Building Structure
Following extensive surveying, monitoring and modelling of the existing concrete structure, the structural refurbishment has focused on 2 key main objectives: stiffening the structure to meet current seismic requirements and reinforcing the retained structure to transfer static and dynamic loads relating to the new structure at the top of the tower.
The enabling works included the demolition of the top 2.5 floors of the building and the
concrete frame and slabs of the car parking areas to allow for the extension of the
basement areas (floors B2 to B7). Smaller, target demolition works to external slabs and
balconies are undertaken to treat the effects of corrosion due to humid, saline air.
The new structure for floors 15 – 18 is a lightweight, low carbon steel structure (XCarb)
providing a good strength / weight ratio and control of deflections which have enabled us
to use a glazed window wall with minimal framing profile in the penthouses. The use of
steel has allowed for flexible open plan penthouse layouts and generous cantilevers to
create large outdoor terraces.
Between floors 14 and 15 a new steel frame ‘transfer slab’ has been created. This has a
dual purpose; firstly, to consolidate the existing concrete frame and secondly to follow an
open plan structural grid in the penthouses.
75% of the existing concrete structure has been retained.

Owner: HPP
Developer: SAM Le Soleil

Architect: Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA)
ZHA Project Director: Stephane Vallotton
ZHA Project Architect: Pelayo Bustillo Macias
ZHA Project Leads: Lenka Petrakova, Frenji Koshy
ZHA Project Team: Afsoon Eshaghi, Alex Nap, Anna Uborevich-Borovskaya, Branko Svarcer,
Chiara Baiocco, Drew Merkle, Hyun Jin Kim, Ken Bostock, Martin Pfleger, Meenakshi Sharma,
Michelle Sin, Nicolas Tornero, Othmane Kandri, Roberta Sartori, Sharon Sin, Thanh Dao,
Yasemin Muduroglu, Yihoon Kim, Zohra Rougab
ZHA Competition Project Director: Cristiano Ceccato
ZHA Competition Associate: Lydia Kim

Consultants
Local Architect: Square Architecte
Structural Engineers: Eckersley O’Callaghan and OTEIS
Cost Consultant: VPEAS
Environmental Consultant: AIA
Façade Engineering: Eckersley O’Callaghan
M&E Engineering: INGETEC
Fire Engineer: INGETEC
Landscape Consultant: Jean Agapit
Lighting Design: 8’8”
Acoustic Consultant: INGETEC
Project Manager: MIP
Signage Consultant: Space Agency