A Signal Above the Bay

Project

La Hune

Status

Competition

Type

Mixed-use, residential and public

Year

2018

Location

Lorient, France

Credits

Marin Marinović
Vera Broez

On the former Bodélio hospital site, where the waters of the Ter, the Faouédic and the Scorff part ways above the Bay, La Hune rises as the city's signal: a landmark visible from everywhere, and a place that keeps the site's hospitable vocation alive.

The project begins with a park. Three hectares, open to all, crossed by two axes that stitch the streets together, it follows the old rampart wall as a sheltered Chemin de ronde. Along it: an orchard café around the chapel, a high sunny terrace against the stone wall, a lower square of water and greenery opening toward the city.

Two families of buildings inhabit it. Timber "Paquebots" on pilotis, with decks and belvederes, step over the wall and leave the ground free. Closer to the core, mineral houses and small collectives reuse the stone, earth and wood of the demolition.

At the centre, the tower: a crèche, coworking and research incubators at its base, a seniors' club above sharing spaces with the children, panoramic homes, and a restaurant at the summit, the highest viewpoint in the agglomeration.