Le chai: Minimum intervention for maximum effect

Project idea

In this project, I chose to highlight the great potential of the port infrastructure of the city of Dunkirk since a large number of its building are being completely destroyed and replaced by new structures. The idea is to demonstrate how we can, with minimum intervention, have a maximum effect and save this heritage which constitutes the very identity of this city.

Project description

I mainly focused on Mole 1, an old quay of the historical Port of Dunkirk. It is the subject of an urban intervention that aims to conquer these spaces and return them to the city. I focused on a wine storage warehouse located at the center of it. It is an introverted building with five opaque facades that was built in 1949 to replace the second sugar hall destroyed during World War II. The building has three floors and a basement with a large central hall containing walkways that connect 148 tanks.
Since Mole 1 has already acquired a cultural and entertainment vocation with the rehabilitation of the first sugar hall and with an ice rink project, I chose to transform this wine storage warehouse into a reception structure, i.e., a space that could accommodate multiple usages: a cinema, a theatre, a concert, a nightclub, a fashion show, etc.

Technical information

The various scenic devices make it possible to transform the vocation of the space from one usage to another. I opened one of its opaque facades to gain access to the public space and to the panorama of the city. The intervention on the public space consists in marking the trace of the old sugar hall by removing the concrete floor and replacing it with fertile soil in the style of Gilles Clément. The soil stops at the level of the glass facade to become a forecourt, an outdoor stage that can accommodate any event.