INTERNATIONAL IDEAS COMPETITION

CONVERSION OF THE KEROMAN SUBMARINE BASE, LORIENT

FRANCE

• Competition programme objectives
• Type of competition
• Jury composition
• Prizes
• Timetable
• Documents to be submitted
• Evaluation criteria
• Registration procedure
• Information

With the support the Ministry of Defence, the District of Lorient (Morbihan) - France - has launched an international ideas competition, open and anonymous, for the conversion of the Keroman Submarine Base, in the Lorient area. The Base covers 26 hectacres and is composed mainly of three concrete blocks or bunkers, built during the Second World War to shelter the U-Boats of the German Admiral Dönitz.

COMPETITION PROGRAMME OBJECTIVES

A project committee, gathering together the principal authorities of the Lorient District, of the County (Morbihan) and the Region (Brittany), chose as a strategic option for the conversion and development, the creation of a complex integrating industrial and service activities, training and research activities as well as leisure and tourist activities; the unifying element of this programme is the interaction between man and the sea and also the highlighting of the knowledge of the people of the Lorient in this field.

The objective of this competition is to establish a masterplan for the urban development with a long term perspective which will constitute a reference not only for the site of the Base itself but also, for the surrounding areas, their evolution and their relationship with the city centre.

Through the competition, the organiser wishes to select a team which will undertake, on its behalf, the supervision of the execution of the masterplan during the end of the pre-operational period and later during the first phase of the implementation of the project (1999-2002).

TYPE OF COMPETITION

The competition falls into the category of an ideas competition, anonymous and in a single stage. The regulations, in compliance with the French regulations for public procurement, is in conformity with the UNESCO-UIA Recommendation concerning international competitions in architecture and town planning. It has received the approval of the International Union of Architects- UIA.

The competition is open to professionals the world over (architects, landscape-architects, town planners), qualified and having the right to practice one of these professions in their country, as well as to firms, teams of professionals or academic institutions, without any limit whatsoever as to the number of participants in a team.

JURY COMPOSITION

The jury will include: :

• The following French personalities :

Jean Yves Le Drian, President of the District of Lorient (or his representative Mr. Goualc'h); Mr. Metairie, Mr. Gilles, Mr. Le Meur, Mr. Keraudran, Mr. Nevannen, representing the local public authorities concerned; Alain Villaret, head of the "Mission pour la réalisation des actifs immobiliers" / Ministry of Defence.

• The following architects:

William Alsop (United Kingdom), Alexandru Beldiman (Romania), UIA representative, Stefano Boeri (Italy), Jordi Garces (Spain), Henri Gaudin (France), Suk Won Kang (Republic of Korea), Paolo Mendes da Rocha (Brazil), Peter G. Rowe (USA), Axel Sowa (Germany), Jade Tabet (Lebanon). Stefan Lungu (Romania) and R. Raci Bademli (Turkey) will participate as deputy jury members.

PRIZES

The total sum of awards amounts to: 500 000 French Francs, to be distributed as follows; :

First prize :	200 000 French Francs
Second prize :	175 000 French Francs
Third prize :	125 000 French Francs

Three honourable mentions will also be awarded by the jury.

TIMETABLE

Launch of competition	2 January 1999
Deadline for reception of registrations (including by fax)	15 March 1999
Deadline for reception of competitors questions	15 April 1999
Mailing of replies to competitors questions	30 April 1999
Deadline for mailing entries	28 May 1999
Deadline for reception of entries in Lorient	4 June 1999
Presentation of projects to the jury	5 July 1999
Jury adjudication	9 July 1999

DOCUMENTS TO BE SUBMITTED

Candidates are required to present their projects in the form of a master plan for development and city planning of the area, presenting the following characteristics;

• Written report : descriptive text, surface tables, projected cost estimate.
• Graphic documents, on four A0 format panels:
  • Schematic concept diagram of the planning and organisation of the activities' poles (scale at the discretion of candidates) ;
  • Lay-out plan (scale 1/1000) ;
  • Ground- floor plans and partial plans of the other floors (scale 1/1000) ;
  • Sections, elevations, details (scale at the discretion of candidates).

The competition languages are French and English.

EVALUATION CRITERIA

In examining the entries the jury will take into account the pertinence of the projects in their treatment of the following aspects :

• Accessibility to the site, by sea and by road, relationship between the city, the Base and the ports;
• Issues concerning the site's future attendance in relation to the diversity of users (businesses, the people of Lorient, tourists, trainees, teachers, researchers);
• Issues dealing with the use of buildings where conservation is planned;
• Highlighting the heritage of the built volume of the bunkers;
• Integration of these volumes in an adequate landscape and their chromatic treatment;
• Use of the surface potential offered by the facades and the roofs of the bunkers;
• Integration of the site of the submarine Base in the adjacent urban sectors.
• Costs estimation

INFORMATION