Le Schuylkill Monaco building refurbishment, Zaha Hadid Architects Monte Carlo commercial real estate, Architecture photos

Le Schuylkill Monaco Building Redevelopment

9 March 2024

Design: Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA)

Location: Ave da la Costa, Monaco

Le Schuylkill Monaco Building Renewal Design

Existing exterior:

photo : John Kellerman

Exterior from the port with the new design by Zaha Hadid Architects:

photo : John Kellerman courtesy Alamy, montage by MIR

Le Schuylkill Monaco Project Brief

Following a detailed feasibility study, the client developed a detailed brief based on the condition of the existing building and the building’s legacy, both past and future. The building redevelopment design is by Zaha Hadid Architects, based in London, UK.

Key elements of the brief were developed around the appearance of the building, current requirements of the local rental market, longevity and maintenance, environmental opportunities, and the structural capacity of the existing concrete frame. An important requirement from the client was that the building had to remain in use during the building works.

The key elements of the brief are:

• Demolition of floors +15, +16, +17 and creating a transfer slab at high level on floor +14 to develop 6 new penthouses.
• New insulated building envelope with improved solar protection.
• Refurbishment and extension of the existing balconies.
• Replacement of all existing building services and connection to the municipal sea water loop.
• New amenity facilities for residents, including, gym, pool, spa rooms and Clubhouse.
• New resident’s entrance from the Ave da la Costa on basement level 5.
• Reinforcement of the existing concrete structure to meet current seismic requirements.
• Complete strip out, reconfiguration and refurbishment of the existing apartments.
• Excavation and extension of the existing car park and technical spaces, including the creation of a new car park ramp.

The new project provides an increase of 9,000 m2 GFA from 32,000 m2 to 41,000 m2.

Le Schuylkill existing exterior from the port:

photo courtesy of architects office

Le Schuylkill Monaco Building Refurbishment News

From basement level 4 up to level 14 the existing apartments are retained, remodelled and fully refurbished to meet the current expectations of the local rental market. All refurbished apartments are now fitted with new M.E.P. services, kitchens, bathrooms and interior finishes including improved acoustic and fire insulation. The fixtures, fittings and finishes are simple and good quality.

Levels 15, 16 and 17 are entirely new and provide accommodation for 6 penthouses. Level 15 has three single storey penthouses whilst the upper penthouses are arranged as duplexes. The penthouses are aimed at the luxury market and provide a bespoke, high end fit out, providing spacious, open plan layouts maximising natural light and panoramic views.

Le Schuylkill Monaco exterior from the casino:

image : Mir

Whereas the existing apartments up to level 14 have reused the existing layouts, including structure and service risers, the spatial requirements of the penthouses required a transfer slab to redistribute structural loads and deviate services to create large, open plan spaces and generous outdoor terraces.

The existing entrance lobby has been extended and better integrated with the car drop off at the front of the building and the landscaped gardens. The entrance lobby is for residents and their guests. It’s a single space that connects all 3 residential blocks as well as the basement levels. It also contains a fully equipped co-working space for the residents. The logistics entrance is separated from the resident’s entrance. The logistics entrance is at basement level 1 and this floor has been completely reconfigured to provide improved facilities (deliveries, storage, removals, maintenance access, security systems, etc) and technical rooms.

Le Schuylkill Monte Carlo exterior balcony detail:

image : Mir

At basement level 5, along the Avenue de la Costa, where the new resident’s facilities have been located, a new secondary entrance has been created. The new secondary entrance allows the residents better pedestrian access to the port and allows guests to arrive directly to the Clubhouse amenities.

The new clubhouse provides a large dining room, bar, lounge, and catering kitchen. Given the comparatively modest size of the existing apartments, the Clubhouse provides a facility for residents to entertain larger groups of family and friends. On level basement 5, resident’s also have access to a shared pool, gym and spa rooms.

Le Schuylkill Monte Carlo exterior south facade:

image : Mir

In basement levels 2 to 6, the existing car park has been extended to introduce an internal ramp, an additional 162 car parking spaces with full EV provision and bicycle and motorbike parking. The new car park is now mechanically ventilated and equipped with a sprinkler system.

Externally, along the Boulevard de Suisse, the landscaped planters are expressed using long, low undulating stone ‘ribbons’. The landscape, car drop off area and the main entrance lobby are treated as an entity using form and materiality to connect them and to create a greater sense of arrival to the Schuylkill. On the South side of the building, along Avenue de la Costa, the landscape is treated as tiered gardens from level basement 6 to basement level 3 where the landscape blends into the base of the building.

The new landscape been equipped with a watering system using rainwater recycling and all new plants have been selected for the low water requirements. Where feasible, existing plants have been transferred and retained.

Le Schuylkill entrance lobby:

render : Talcik Demovicova

Le Schuylkill Monte Carlo – Existing Building

Built in 1963, Le Schuylkill Tower was the first high rise building constructed in Monaco.

Occupying a prominent position in Monte Carlo, the residential tower overlooks the principality’s Port Hercule with panoramic views south to royal palace, the old town, and beyond to the Mediterranean Sea.

The Schuylkill is a residential building which sits on a steep site and is accessible from both the Boulevard de Suisse to the North and the Avenue de la Costa to the South. The declivity across the site is considerable at 22m.

Architecturally, the existing building is well adapted to the site and has been configured to benefit fully from the views towards the sea and to manage the steep topography of the site. In plan it is arranged in an open ‘U’ shape to maximise the number of apartments with sea facing views. All apartments have balconies providing outdoor space.

Le Schuylkill Monaco clubhouse interior design:

render : Milau Studio

In section, the building is arranged into 2 distinct parts; the lower part comprising 7 storeys built against the rock face and the upper part comprising 17 storeys but split into 3 individual blocks, each with a vertical circulation core on the North side of the building. There is no horizontal circulation between the 3 blocks above ground.

Programmatically, the lower part of the building contains car parking, cellars, storage, service rooms and technical rooms. The upper part is all residential accommodation ranging from small studio apartments to large 4-bedroom apartments. The existing building provides 188 apartments, 5 service rooms, 145 car parking spaces and 198 cellars for the residents’ personal storage.

Le Schuylkill drop off:

render : Talcik Demovicova

Structurally, the existing building is a reinforced concrete frame arranged in 2 distinct parts. The lower part (Ground to basement level 7) comprises a single block (35m x 48m) and the upper part comprises 3 separate vertical blocks. The floor slabs in the lower levels are solid concrete whilst in the upper parts they are beam and block slabs with a concrete infill approximately 10cm thick. Covering the concrete in the upper residential areas is a 5cm thick layer of sand, providing effective acoustic insulation between floors.

Le Schuylkill penthouse bedroom:

render : Talcik Demovicova

All load bearing columns run vertically through the entire building. As the entire site is against load bearing rock the foundations are shallow pads and there are no retaining walls around the perimeter.

Le Schuylkill penthouse kitchen design:

render : Talcik Demovicova

The building services are distributed vertically, from plant rooms in the basement, through the stair and lift cores and various risers across the floor plates. Generally speaking, ventilation and water distribution are located in risers across the floor plates whilst the core areas contain electrical distribution and waste chutes.

Le Schuylkill penthouse living room:

render : Talcik Demovicova

Hot water production, including central heating, is powered through 2 oil-fired boilers and a 30,000 litre fuel storage facility. Hot water distribution is achieved using 4 electrically powered pumps. Each apartment is fitted with individual electrically powered hot water tanks for domestic hot water (bathrooms). Wastewater, grey water and rain water are all collected and evacuated separately.

Ventilation in the apartments is achieved with a “shunt” type system using natural ventilation (Stack Effect). There are 22 ducts distributed across the floor plate and running vertically through the building and extracted at roof level. Internally, the extract grills are located in the bathrooms, toilets and kitchens. The majority of the apartments are dualaspect allowing cross-flow ventilation to supplement the shunt ventilation system. There is no mechanical air conditioning in the existing building.

Penthouse indoor pool:

render : Talcik Demovicova

There is no mechanical smoke extraction either. In the residential parts, the staircases are naturally ventilated through the facade and in the car park areas there are grills distributed around the perimeter walls providing cross ventilation. There are between 22-26 car spaces per floor, spread over 6 floors.

Le Schuylkill penthouse design:

render : Talcik Demovicova

The main building façade comprises uninsulated single skin masonry blockwork walls with mosaic tiles on the exterior. The glazed doors and windows are extruded, anodised aluminium frames with single glazing. All glazed openings are fitted with roller shutters on the outside. The balconies are continuous around almost all the building’s perimeter and are fitted with retractable solar blinds providing shade on the balconies. The façade on the existing stairwells are solid stone louvers with a 50% clear opening to provide for natural smoke extraction.

Le Schuylkill Monaco Redevelopment – Building Information

Developer: SAM Le Soleil
Architect: Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA)
ZHA Project Director: Stephane Vallotton
ZHA Project Architect: Pelayo Bustillo Macias
ZHA Project Leads: Lenka Petrakova, Frenji Koshy

ZHA Project Team: Afsoon Eshaghi, Alex Nap, Anna Uborevich-Borovskaya, Branko Svarcer, Chiara Baiocco, Drew Merkle, Hyun Jin Kim, Ken Bostock, Martin Pfleger, Meenakshi Sharma, Michelle Sin, Nicolas Tornero, Othmane Kandri, Roberta Sartori, Sharon Sin, Thanh Dao, Yasemin Muduroglu, Yihoon Kim, Zohra Rougab

ZHA Competition Project Director: Cristiano Ceccato
ZHA Competition Associate: Lydia Kim

Consultants:

Local Architect: Square Architecte
Structural Engineers: Eckersley O’Callaghan and OTEIS
Cost Consultant: VPEAS
Environmental Consultant: AIA
Façade Engineering: Eckersley O’Callaghan
M&E Engineering: INGETEC
Fire Engineer: INGETEC
Landscape Consultant: Jean Agapit
Lighting Design: 8’18”
Acoustic Consultant: INGETEC
Project Manager: MIP
Signage Consultant: Space Agency

Zaha Hadid Architects

Le Schuylkill Monaco Building Refurbishment images / information received from ZHA on 090324

Location: Port Hercule, Monaco, southern Europe

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