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  4. Roucas-Blanc Marina

The 2024 Olympic Games brought Roucas-Blanc Marina to the world’s attention – hosting 10 sailing events, 330 athletes and 140,000 spectators. Now, renamed the Stade Nautique Florence Arthaud after the pioneering French sailor, it’s helping thousands of local schoolchildren learn to sail and protect the stunning marine environment they call home. And the story doesn’t end there. From June 2025, the marina will also welcome the public, providing accessible water activities for people of all ages.

Our team in France were at the heart of the project from the beginning, as part of the competition-winning consortium behind the marina. 

The site’s transformation included adding six new buildings for the Olympics, completed in February 2024. Designed to last long after the Games, these facilities now host elite athletes and local people side by side. Providing a world class training facility for the French sailing team, an environmental education centre, and a municipal sailing school set to teach 9,000 children a year. The marina’s existing buildings were carefully relocated and reused to provide new water sports complexes in Corsica – after being used as a base during construction. 

Hadrien Freydefont, Project Manager explained: “As multidisciplinary engineers, we took care of all the technical elements and environmental studies. We also helped the client achieve Mediterranean Sustainable Buildings certification (BDM).” 

Location

  • Marseille, Bouches-du-Rhône, France

Client

  • City of Marseille

Project Status

  • Completed
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Sustainable by design

The marina’s new buildings are inspired by Marseille’s famous sea, wind and limestone and designed to strict environmental standards. They feature bio-based and recycled materials alongside 40% low carbon concrete to reduce carbon emissions, including recycled cellulose insulation, Marmoleum flooring made from waste wood, and recycled aluminium joinery. 

Our team did a resource evaluation beforehand to maximize the reuse of materials, both onsite and from other construction projects in the region. They also took a circular approach to water. For example, wastewater from showers is reused to preheat domestic hot water, and during construction, water was recycled using a mini treatment plant to reduce water consumption. 

Indoor space
7,800m2
Outdoor space
17,000m2
Native tree and plant species
131

A lasting legacy

The former Olympic site will continue to host local and international sporting events, giving people the chance to enjoy sailing alongside experienced competitors. To support its year-round use, the marina’s climate-resistant facilities are designed to cope with very hot weather, as temperatures in the Mediterranean rise 20% faster compared to the global average. 

The new buildings are positioned in response to local weather conditions, while fixed sun breakers (brise soleil) deflect direct sunlight and louvres provide natural ventilation. To meet BDM energy performance standards, our team did a bioclimatic study to confirm the design optimized building users’ comfort all year round, without the need for air conditioning. 

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The marina is Effinature certified for protecting biodiversity and our team worked closely with biodiversity experts throughout the project. As part of the site’s redevelopment, features such as bird houses, insect hotels and permeable surfaces were installed, along with green roofs and natural landscaping including 131 native Mediterranean tree and plant species. 

The  wider project also included maritime works to modernize the Roucas-Blanc basin and optimize water conditions for nautical activities like sailing. An internal breakwater now improves the area’s protection from ocean swells and coastal erosion, stormwater management networks improve water quality, and ecological installations increase marine biodiversity. On land, a new quay was built to maintain boats at the marina, together with a new footbridge linking the north and south of the site. 

 

Meet the Visioneers 

Project Manager, Hadrien Freydefont is excited about the project’s Olympic legacy – helping the next generation of Marseillais explore and protect their unique coastal environment. 

By combining sustainability, innovation and resource optimization, the project has become a model for the construction of buildings and infrastructure that better serve communities.

Other challenges that we have overcome