The Sables d’Olonne bay used to offer vacationers a long and spacious beach, but a narrow public space. Architect Gérard Lancereau and landscape designer Jacqueline Osty have transformed this embankment promenade initially reserved to cars, into a vast, very high quality pedestrian walkway (4 ha).
The lighting of this waterfront has been designed to give it back a nocturnal identity, whether seen from land or sea, to create a variety of nocturnal sequences that would generate new uses, and to enliven the beach further down. In order to free up the panorama, the lighting design project has naturally revolved around the creation of a 14-meter high, wooden lighting pole with a strong visual identity, reminiscent of sailboat masts and their boat room, equipped with fully rotatable projectors that would compose a harmonious, uniform lighting.
The poles have been equipped with differential ignitions: unlit beach in the Winter and in the deep of the night, lower light levels at certain hours. The site therefore consumes very little energy, while remaining very welcoming. A language made of recessed, amber light fixtures, of grazing blue light fixtures and backlit benches, is adapted throughout urban lounges to animate the promenade.