PRESS RELEASE
Cadarache, 4 December 2007
ITER buildings architectural
competition won by
Ricciotti-Bonhomme and Trouvin-CAP Ingelec
The winners of the competition for the design of the ITER building complex are the architects Ricciotti-Bonhomme partners of the Engineering offices Trouvin-CAP Engelec. The funding of the complex is shared by France and the European Commission.
The building complex, covering 22,340m2 includes offices, an amphitheatre for 500 people, a visitors’ centre, a medical centre, a staff restaurant, a reception building and a car park for 1000 vehicles. Construction is due to start on the ITER site at the beginning of 2008.
The winning project pays particular attention to a design that preserves natural space as much as possible. Importance is attached to high environmental quality by envisaging several measures, such as the optimization of rubble and back-filling,
metering water and electricity consumption, use of solar heating, systems for re-use of energy and above all, respect for the environment of the surrounding park during the development of the site.
The members of the jury, a landscape designer, architets, local politicians, as well as representatives of the European commission and the ITER Organization, were unanimous in deciding that this was a “elegant, functional and striking project”. The aim, according to its creators, is to “reflect the international nature of a scientific collaborative project unique in history”.
Among his previous works architect Rudy Ricciotti, winner of national awards, designed the national centre for choreography in Aix en Provence the “Pavillon Noir”, the planned festival palace in Venice, the enlargement of the Louvre for the Islamic arts wing and more recently the new building for theatre and music on the Isle Seguin in the Paris area and the future stadium Jean Bouin in Paris.
More information on the ITER project and fusion energy can be found on www.iter.org
For further information and photographs, please contact:
Mrs Jennifer Hay
Public Relations ITER Cadarache JWS
Bat 519 CEA Cadarache
13108 Saint Paul-lez-Durance
France
T: 00 33 (0)4 42 25 46 57
BACKGROUND TO THE NEWS RELEASE
ITER will be the world's largest experimental facility to demonstrate the scientific and technical feasibility of fusion power. Fusion is the process which powers the sun and the stars. When light atomic nuclei fuse together to form heavier ones, a large amount of energy is released. Fusion research is aimed at developing a prototype fusion power plant that is safe and reliable, environmentally responsible and economically viable, with abundant and widespread fuel resources.
The ITER project is sited at Cadarache in the South of France. The construction costs of the facility are estimated at 5 billion Euros over ten years, most of which will be awarded in the form of contracts to industrial companies and fusion research institutions. Europe will contribute roughly half of the costs of its construction, while the other six Parties to this joint international venture (China, Japan, India, the Republic of Korea, the Russian Federation and the USA), will contribute equally to the rest.
Each Party has set up a Domestic Agency to organize and carry out procurement of their in kind contributions to ITER. The Domestic Agencies employ their own staff and have their own budget and will place contracts with suppliers.