Project 09
23 . 02 _ U _ DONGES
- NO SMOKING -
DONGES ET MONTOIR
LOIRE-ATLANTIQUE
FRANCE
We prefer to speak of a new factory rather than the reverse, given how ambitious this project is in its design.
While a typical site might suggest that we are starting from scratch, here, the foundation is negative, as the site is so polluted and complex to handle. The "already-there" is cumbersome but not without potential. Our approach is to overcome a paradox: that of building to depollute. Like a tree that stores CO2 during its lifetime, here the concrete and coatings use the abundant coal present on the site. This coal is used to make coal concrete. Although of lesser quality than conventional concrete, it nevertheless offers sufficient properties and allows this rock to be stored within the mass of the new buildings, thus avoiding its combustion or volatility, which are sources of pollution. Similarly, a rammed earth made of slag is used for the coatings.
Its structure is designed to be ultra-reversible. The primary structure is intended to occupy the site as long as possible, without direct ties to the activities it houses. If undeniably such construction, at this scale, will cause upheavals on the site, it is best to combine the act of building for now and for the future. The "after" is as important as the "now." This reasoning follows the accelerated obsolescence of industrial sites. Today, production methods evolve faster than buildings can adapt. This new factory attempts to replicate the strengths of reversibility demonstrated by the industrial architectures of the 19th century.
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NO SMOKING - echoes this warning inscribed on the castles of ships capable of transporting flammable materials; painted in red or black with letters larger than houses. But it primarily evokes the omnipresent and omnipotent safety concerns in the industrial world.
While a typical site might suggest that we are starting from scratch, here, the foundation is negative, as the site is so polluted and complex to handle. The "already-there" is cumbersome but not without potential. Our approach is to overcome a paradox: that of building to depollute. Like a tree that stores CO2 during its lifetime, here the concrete and coatings use the abundant coal present on the site. This coal is used to make coal concrete. Although of lesser quality than conventional concrete, it nevertheless offers sufficient properties and allows this rock to be stored within the mass of the new buildings, thus avoiding its combustion or volatility, which are sources of pollution. Similarly, a rammed earth made of slag is used for the coatings.
Its structure is designed to be ultra-reversible. The primary structure is intended to occupy the site as long as possible, without direct ties to the activities it houses. If undeniably such construction, at this scale, will cause upheavals on the site, it is best to combine the act of building for now and for the future. The "after" is as important as the "now." This reasoning follows the accelerated obsolescence of industrial sites. Today, production methods evolve faster than buildings can adapt. This new factory attempts to replicate the strengths of reversibility demonstrated by the industrial architectures of the 19th century.
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NO SMOKING - echoes this warning inscribed on the castles of ships capable of transporting flammable materials; painted in red or black with letters larger than houses. But it primarily evokes the omnipresent and omnipotent safety concerns in the industrial world.
When one meets Mr. L. in Donges, it is surprising to see this president of an industrial group with vertiginous potential so comfortable in his work gear. He scrambles and exclaims at the viewpoints the site offers. He loves this territory and does not hesitate to show it to his visitors. He knows every company established here, what they manufacture and export, the history of the shipyard, the names of the port cranes and gantry cranes, but also the architects of the remarkable and modern Saint-Martin church, the protected species, and the navigation conditions in the estuary. So, one lets themselves be guided and charmed by this human dimension he brings to this territory he has been exploring for several years and to the project he defends.
His familiarity dates back a long time. On vacation, at a time when car gauges were unreliable, he ran out of gas. Precisely here. The silent meeting between the Loire and the Atlantic mixed with the dull hum of nearby industries did not leave him indifferent. The irony is that he was stranded there, with an empty tank amidst enormous oil tanks where millions of liters lay dormant. Dry, in this ocean of hydrocarbons.
Since then, it’s clear that the reservoirs have filled with ingenuity to create the beautiful mechanism Mr. L. founded: Renewcell. This Swedish group established itself in Sundsvall, on a struggling industrial site, to initiate a conversion and tackle a current issue that calls for colossal means. The company develops recycling technology in an industry, textiles, considered one of the most polluting of the 21st century, responsible for a significant share of greenhouse gas emissions and water pollution. The enormous machines developed by Renewcell devour used clothes day and night, tirelessly, to produce a cellulose pulp that will be used to weave new clothes. This pulp is called circulose, for its ability to produce a material identical to the one it came from.
In 2020, following the successful results of the first factory and the market it found, the Renewcell group managed to raise funds to launch the project for a second production site. This time, the recycling capacities will be multiplied and brought to titanic scales. It will be the largest recycling site of its kind in the northern hemisphere.
Renewcell launches a call for projects, and several cities compete to attract this future-oriented company. The application of the Public Institution in charge of the Port of Nantes-Saint-Nazaire, supported by the Loire-Atlantique Region, proposes Donges and Montoir as the implantation site. So when this file lands on Mr. L.'s desk, it is not unfamiliar to him.
After huge negotiations, reflecting the political, environmental, economic, and financial stakes of this project, Donges and Montoir are chosen. The selected site is partly on a former coal terminal. It will undergo a radical transformation to restart and produce recycled and recyclable material. From coal, the archetype of two centuries of progress, here comes circulose, the magnified waste of the century to come.
Coming soon.
His familiarity dates back a long time. On vacation, at a time when car gauges were unreliable, he ran out of gas. Precisely here. The silent meeting between the Loire and the Atlantic mixed with the dull hum of nearby industries did not leave him indifferent. The irony is that he was stranded there, with an empty tank amidst enormous oil tanks where millions of liters lay dormant. Dry, in this ocean of hydrocarbons.
Since then, it’s clear that the reservoirs have filled with ingenuity to create the beautiful mechanism Mr. L. founded: Renewcell. This Swedish group established itself in Sundsvall, on a struggling industrial site, to initiate a conversion and tackle a current issue that calls for colossal means. The company develops recycling technology in an industry, textiles, considered one of the most polluting of the 21st century, responsible for a significant share of greenhouse gas emissions and water pollution. The enormous machines developed by Renewcell devour used clothes day and night, tirelessly, to produce a cellulose pulp that will be used to weave new clothes. This pulp is called circulose, for its ability to produce a material identical to the one it came from.
In 2020, following the successful results of the first factory and the market it found, the Renewcell group managed to raise funds to launch the project for a second production site. This time, the recycling capacities will be multiplied and brought to titanic scales. It will be the largest recycling site of its kind in the northern hemisphere.
Renewcell launches a call for projects, and several cities compete to attract this future-oriented company. The application of the Public Institution in charge of the Port of Nantes-Saint-Nazaire, supported by the Loire-Atlantique Region, proposes Donges and Montoir as the implantation site. So when this file lands on Mr. L.'s desk, it is not unfamiliar to him.
After huge negotiations, reflecting the political, environmental, economic, and financial stakes of this project, Donges and Montoir are chosen. The selected site is partly on a former coal terminal. It will undergo a radical transformation to restart and produce recycled and recyclable material. From coal, the archetype of two centuries of progress, here comes circulose, the magnified waste of the century to come.
Coming soon.
Usine de recyclage
Terminal portuaire et ferroviaire
Centre logistique
Bureaux
Début : 3ème
trimestre 2022
Budget : NC
Surface : 32ha
Construction neuve Démolitions partielles
Fondation pieux béton
Pile et poutre en béton préfabriqué
Poutre acier reconditionné
Béton de charbon
Pisé de mâchefer
Charpente métal bois
Couverture végétalisée
Inventaire des matériaux : NC
Terminal portuaire et ferroviaire
Centre logistique
Bureaux
Début : 3ème
trimestre 2022
Budget : NC
Surface : 32ha
Construction neuve Démolitions partielles
Fondation pieux béton
Pile et poutre en béton préfabriqué
Poutre acier reconditionné
Béton de charbon
Pisé de mâchefer
Charpente métal bois
Couverture végétalisée
Inventaire des matériaux : NC
