Puerto de Vigo Tower (Spain) / Jean Nouvel

Jean Nouvel won the international contest for Vigo’s harbour reorganisation that includes a 90 meters tall tower, to be made of granite. The tower will house a hotel and a panoramic restaurant.

The reorganisation will affect the central part of the seaport. The main axis of the project is the great 90m tower, with a monolithic shape, and that will have a lot of granite in the façade. The tower will be situated in the end of the new wharf for transatlantic ships, and will be a hotel, with a panoramic restaurant in its top.

Apart of the monolithic tower, Nouvel’s proposal, presented with the motto: “Peirao XXI”, proposes the “Jardín de las mareas” (tides garden), an avenue that will reach the hotel’s base. It will be an ensemble of different heights terraces, which will be flooded in part by the high tide.

Other representative thing of the French architect proposal is the construction of a sightseeing walkway called “La escuadra de acero” (steel set square). It will be a great steel girder of more than 130m long, which will be an extension of Colon Street to the sea. It will connect with the cruise dock enlargement. Its base, formed by a cube shape building, will house the headquarters of the future marina and will have a heliport in the cover.

Nouvel was designated winner with the unanimity of the jury. The election had an implicit prize of 450,000€. Nouvel won David Chipperfield, whose proposal contained a 160m tall skyscraper.

The project has a budget of 268 million €, and implementation period of 38 months, with 4 for making the basic project. It is estimated the opening for end 2010.