The municipal complex of Saint-Palais-sur-Mer is the first part of the large-scale urban project defined by the Town Hall.

Saint-Palais-sur-Mer is a commune in the Charente-Maritime department, southwestern France. The area is surrounded by the Cantabrian Sea.

Beyond the planned public buildings, including this multi-functional block, the city wanted to focus on the re-qualification of the public spaces which would connect the beach with the lake.

Cinema, shops, police station, post office and 6 housing units

Mineral and plant esplanades will enliven this route punctuated by new equipment.

A6A and Atelier Archipel’s intervention favours the urban form of an independent block, prioritising the public passages around it. The rugged topography of the site allowed the architects to play with spaces that dominate others with a changing volumetric cutout.

It generates occasional views of the gardens below.

A white concrete object containing the projection room dominates the project.

Very closed on three of its four sides, it opens generously on the fourth, cantilevered above the shops on the ground floor. It becomes the ball joint between the public space which gives access to the beach and the large parking lot below.

This is a different space, open to the various uses that can be imagined by the citizens.

The green embankment accompanies spectators to the main entrance, leading them to the public balcony.

The materials on the facade were left raw. For the sake of constructive readability, the concrete kept visible traces of the formwork. They are to be underlined by the punctual use of steel which, through its patina, will give tones and colors that will evolve over time.

In the words of the architects, “We dreamed about concrete and we wanted to learn how to build with it”