Sète, France

Located in an emblematic site at the end of the Saint Louis mole in the port of Sète, Nautical Pole by NBJ Architectes features an ecological design that brings various nautical functions under one roof.

With multiple uses for associations, the Société Nautique de Sète (SNS) and the SNSM, 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 at the same time revealing it.

It is from the reception room, which opens onto a vast terrace, that the distant horizon is revealed.

The program brings together the nautical associations of Sète, the Société Nautique de Sète, 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 such as concrete was established with regard to the proximity to the sea and the stakes of perenniality and minimizing the maintenance of the building.

Simple and sober forms were preferred by the architects.

The building was worked in a will of insertion in the landscape.

It is the result of a close collaboration with the Architect of the Buildings of France.

In a will of reflection on materials and a short timeframe, the architects worked with a concept of reusing of the local eco-waste, or, the shells of oysters.

To do this, a collaboration was undertaken with the company Colas, which has developed a flooring product made from the use of oyster shells.

The product is called Colstab Ostréa.

“Colstab Ostrea was developed by Colas with a view to recovering oyster shell waste from shellfish farming activities in the Thau Basin.

Project: Nautical Pole
Architects: NBJ Architectes
Collaborators: Colas Group
Client: Port of Sète – Occitanie Region
Photographer: Jean Luc Girod