Seine Marine Museum
Caudebec en Caux
Date
2011
Phase
Competition
programme
Permanent exhibitions, temporary exhibitions, reception hall, shop, educational rooms
Maîtrise d'ouvrage
Communauté de Communes Caux Vallée de Seine
Maîtrise d'oeuvre
bachnguyenarchitecture
Economiste Epoc Ingénierie
Scénographie Arc-en-scène
BET Choulet
BET EVP Ingénierie
Budget
2,12 M €
SURFACE
1 250 m²
The Seine Marine Museum is set next to the listed building of Caudebec-en-Caux’s city hall.
The building is composed of two wings arranged in the shape of an L, in order to respond to the site’s layout and our programme’s elements :
- a single-storey horizontal wing comprising the Gallery and entrance hall, temporary exhibitions, the conference room and the cloakroom. This gallery overhangs an openwork stone guardrail.
- at a right angle rests a wing which is built over the boathouse : the building hosts permanent exhibitions, among which the famous Gribane (centenary ship used on the Seine river), the River Ballet, the Mascaret (tidal bore) and the Cockpit.
Our aim was to design representative facilities which would respond to the following issues :
- to make its cultural dimension clear to the visitor by incorporating its architecture into the existing constructions and the surrounding magnificent landscape.
- to create a spatial, visual and cultural interaction with the Seine river and its opposite bank. The project follows the existing urban planning, the bank’s layout and the hilly skyline in the background.
- to direct its accesses : designing pedestrian pathways deriving from the docks’ promenade, the city hall’s car park and the streets surrounding the site.
- to leave a strong but harmonious mark on the Seine river by designing a double-plan line : the boathouse’s outline is interlocked with its horizontal gallery refers as much to naval architecture as to port engineerin