Reconstruction de la gare maritime de Port-Maria
The Quiberon ferry terminal reconstruction project demonstrates Brittany's desire to revitalize the islands of Houat, Hoëdic, and Belle-Île. This project strengthens the city-port connection and improves mobility. Nestled in a unique landscape, the building features a simple and harmonious architecture, emphasizing economy of resources.
The new station, integrated into the landscape, diffuses its light and combines passenger, freight, and office spaces under a raw concrete canopy, with glass facades extending the spaces to the outdoors. This project represents a unique opportunity to strengthen the connection between the city and the port of Quiberon by diversifying mobility options.
The Port Maria spur, located at the confluence of the city and the ocean, is a dynamic space. Aware of these assets, we propose an ambitious, timeless, and relevant architecture, in harmony with the environment.
The new station features five carefully designed facades, with no distinction between the main and rear facades, radiating like a beacon. The passenger hub, the freight hub, and the offices coexist under a single canopy of raw concrete, unified by a regular and economical structural framework
This hollow structure is expressed through posts and an overhanging canopy, creating vast open spaces enclosed by glass facades. The horizontal lines are extended outside by large canopies. The floor-to-ceiling glass facades offer an architecture that is very open to the landscape. This grid-like architecture, inspired by the concept of "free plan," blends harmoniously among the buildings of the port of Quiberon. The light-colored concrete skeleton rests delicately on the granite base of the spur, embodying an open and welcoming building, anchored in its territory.
Concrete was chosen for its resistance to the climatic elements of the Atlantic coast. The lightness of the hollow concrete structure contrasts with the granite base. The protective canopy, made of concrete, gives an impression of lightness thanks to a maximum reduction in the thickness of the upper slab and columns, using the mushroom floor technique. The foundations are bored piles. The 51.5 x 57.9 m project does not include an expansion joint to promote wind bracing. The 40 cm thick roof rests on 30 x 30 cm posts and is waterproofed and insulated. The posts and the underside of the roof are made of light exposed concrete, with a water repellent to ensure their durability. The sound system and lighting are embedded in the slab. The building optimizes heat loss with thermal breaks that meet seismic standards.
Samples of raw concrete were taken to obtain a light shade. The pouring method ensures the homogeneity of visible surfaces. Since construction, no cracks have appeared, and the building is suitable for the climatic requirements of Quiberon.
The architectural ambition of creating a vast, protective canopy floating above the massive spur could only be achieved in concrete. The feeling of lightness is paradoxically sought despite the physical characteristics of concrete. It is by reducing the thickness of the upper slab and columns as much as possible that the magic happens. The elimination of the structural beams is made possible thanks to the mushroom floor and embedded strip technique.
