VINCI Construction and Wilmotte & Associés Architectes are building the future police station for the city of Nice

• The conversion and expansion of the former Saint-Roch Hospital
• A structured environmental approach
• A three year project
• A €178 million design‑build‑operate‑maintain contract

The French Ministry of the Interior, in association with the city of Nice, has asked VINCI Construction subsidiary Dumez Côte d’Azur and architectural firm Wilmotte & Associés to build the future police station for the city of Nice in the Alpes‑Maritimes department of France. Once this major operation is complete, national and local police services – made up of 2,000 people – will be brought together in a single structure spanning over 50,000 m². The future site will also make it possible for the national police’s Information and Command Centre and the city of Nice’s Urban Hypervision and Command Centre to combine forces.

The €178 million design‑build‑operate‑maintain contract will cover the restoration of the core section of the existing buildings, as well as upgrades to bring the structure in line with level 4 of the European standards for earthquake resistance, construction of foundations for the new buildings, all interior trades work, and maintenance for the new site for four years.

The work began in January 2023 and is scheduled for completion in December 2025. Dumez Côte d’Azur teams will carry out asbestos removal with VINCI Construction subsidiary Travaux du Midi and roadwork and utility network construction with Triverio Construction, also a VINCI Construction subsidiary, while electricity work will be carried out with VINCI Energies subsidiary Jean Graniou. Operation and maintenance will be carried out by Dumez Côte d’Azur.

The project will employ up to 500 people and encourage collaboration with small- and medium-sized local companies wherever possible. Moreover, 10% of the hours worked will be carried out by people in social integration programmes.

All of the concrete used will be a low‑carbon Exegy®* standard formulation made by a local manufacturer, reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 30% compared to conventional concrete. A significant part of the flooring as well as the wood for the framework, roofing and carpentry for the historic façades will be biosourced. What’s more, under the operations part of the contract, 300 m2 of photovoltaic panels will be installed on the roof of the new section of the police station, while 20% of the heat from the data centres will be recovered for heating and domestic hot water.

Lastly, shutters will be installed not only harmonise the building’s exterior with surrounding structures in Nice, but also to contribute to the thermal comfort of the interior and help the project obtain the silver level of the Bâtiments Durables Méditerranéens label as well as the Effinergie low energy building (BBC) renovation label.