New Yacht Club de Monaco

Photo credit: Fosters + Partners

The quay of the new port extension below the casino will be the location of a superb new building designed by Fosters and Partners and Joseph Iori Architects. Due for completion in 2012, the new YCM will house shops and public amenities, accessible to the public at quay level, with higher levels reserved for the YCM itself.

The rowing club and sailing school, which currently form a large part of the YCM's activities, and which are mostly used by Monaco schoolchildren, will be centered on the ground floor, with classrooms and lofts for Picos and Lasers. All spaces are air-conditioned, using a low-energy, sea-cooled refrigeration system.

In addition to uninterrupted views over the port, the inland side of the building will offer excellent views of the Grand Prix track. The building will also incorporate a small park on the roof of the sailing school, a restaurant terrace and a new Maritime Museum. This promises to be be the Principality's most interesting and sophisticated modern building by far.

In the illustration above, the old lighthouse and jetty wall have been reinstated, but this may be because the drawing was created before these structures were dismantled.