Project Summary
To support its cultural and economic commitments, the city of Le Havre has splashed out on a group of buildings that reflect the scale of the development of business and leisure activities it seeks to maintain and activate across the Bay of the Seine. The Cité Océane and multiple territorial players have invested in a major project which includes the rehabilitation of the premises of the Docks Café and a cube-shaped building that increases the overall capacity, the Carré des Docks.
Full Case Study
Located in the historic port warehouses of the Eure district, the building of the Docks Café has been part of the Le Havre landscape since 1860. The building has been rehabilitated and above all enhanced, at its centre, with a modern, luminous 140-metre-long extension to form a complex suited to the scale of this dynamic metropolis at the forefront of the positive economy. Committed to long-term actions that will endure for future generations, the city took the decision to invest in a flexible and sustainable space comprised of an exhibition park with an area of 7,000 m², an auditorium with a capacity of 2,100, a 350-seat plenary conference room overlooking the Vatine dock and, to round it off, more welcoming meeting spaces and a panoramic restaurant.
This vast project represents an investment of 35 million euros co-financed by the CODAH, the city of Le Havre, the region, and the Department has also benefited from the support of Ademe with the ecological dimension of the project and its innovative fittings, such as a sea water-powered heat pump…
Design Goals
The tight schedule between the different trade fairs, national exhibitions and annual fairs gives rise to a continuous crossover between external users and a large volume of visitors. These flows of people are always accompanied by the supply of materials, products and equipment needed to ensure these events fulfil their highest potential. These urgent logistical operations, which are always repeated upstream and downstream of events, require the implementation of appropriate wall protection that anticipates the risks associated with this movement.
This hub of cultural activity in Le Havre had to be protected with effective solutions that protect the quality of the construction of the building and are in perfect agreement with the values sought by the city.
Results
To protect the new 7,000 m² exhibition hall, the Docks in Le Havre chose to clad all of the walls with Acrovyn® PVC-Free wall protection panels. This eco-friendly, 100% recyclable and PVC-free material offers a perfectly balanced solution with increased resistance to shocks and a natural and bright, colourful touch that elegantly structures white walls. Panels installed to a height of 1300mm were the clear choice for protection in this environment subject to movements of crowds, in all kinds of different contexts.
Areas receiving logistical supplies, including all points of access to the exhibition hall and to event rooms, have been fitted with Stelatex® 200W50 crash rails and 100C corner guards. Particularly recommended for premises experiencing intensive use, these solutions designed with EPDM cushion and absorb the shocks they may receive from an overloaded forklift going off course or a full waste container that goes astray.
The new Congress Centre of Le Havre was delivered at the end of 2016 and immediately awarded a regional Silver Key from the National Union of General Building and Civil Engineering Contractors (EGF-BTP), credited to Spie Batignolles North for the quality of the fittings, compliance with the delivery schedule as well as the ecological approach employed with this vast five-site project.
