Historic flour mill set to be transformed into new cultural destination

Tenderstream member Neutelings Riedijk Architects is part of the winning team chosen to transform a historic mill and its surroundings in Nantes, France into a museum, public promenade, and garden. Last year, the team - including Ars Architectes Urbanistes, Artelia, Franck Boutté consultants, Scénevoltution and Acoustibel  - qualified from 160 entries in a design contest to create the Cité des Imaginaires, a new museum dedicated to Jules Verne. The contest area encompasses the surrounding Jardin Extraordinaire, which will establish a picturesque connection from the former quarry to the Loire river.

Under its colourful cladding, the “Moulins de Nantes” building conceals a former nineteenth-century flour mill built using a revolutionary process developed by engineer François Hennebique, who created the mill as one of the first large structures in the world made from reinforced concrete. The design challenge was to renew a concrete building that pre-dates current regulations, in a sustainable way.

The solution proposed by the winning team preserves the heritage structures within an interior space, while housing additional facilities within new buildings. From the promenade, visitors start their journey in the covered garden, which is open to the Loire, and can visit the café in the old machine room. Elevators and a large staircase are installed in the central area, illuminated by a glass roof. The Jules Verne museum collections are displayed in a new exhibition, in a setting that emphasises the Nantes-born writer's connection to the Loire, its port, and its natural surroundings. As a last stop on the journey, the roof garden and its expansive terrace are accessible to all, providing all-round views of the city, the quarry, and the estuary that flows towards the sea.

Lucy Nordberg
Tenderstream Head of Research

This tender was first published by Tenderstream on 16.09.2022 here

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