Celebrating the relationship between the natural environment and the history of navigation

This iconic city site, once home to the French National Maritime Academy (École Nationale Supérieure Maritime), is transformed into the Musée de la Marine maritime museum. The grounds are remade into a stunning natural landscape, weaving together beauty, ecology, and education to showcase the history of both the site and navigation.

At the heart of the museum complex sits the Cloister Garden, also called the Maritime Garden. The garden draws inspiration from Breton cloisters — havens in the rugged and windswept coastal environment, bursting with hydrangeas and azaleas. Here, lush vegetation blooms in a fluid and gently stepped design, ebbing and flowing like waves in the ever-changing intertidal zone.

To the south of the courtyard garden, a large sunken patio houses a “Maritime Timber Forest,”scaled to size and planted with oak and Scots pine trees. The strong, flexible, and relatively lightweight Scots pine was once used to make masts, while oak often provided the structural support for ship frames. Above, the Maritime Garden extends into a wooden terrace that opens onto the canopy of this miniature forest.

Building rooftops are designed as a cohesive landscape. The low-growing plants in vibrant hues echo Breton coastal heathlands, with violet and crimson heather blossoming alongside bright yellow gorse.