Dumez Côte d’Azur to build Nice’s future police station

VINCI Construction subsidiary, Dumez Côte d’Azur and architectural firm Wilmotte & Associés, have been asked by the French Ministry of the Interior, and the City of Nice, to build the future police station for the city of Nice, in the Alpes‑Maritimes department of France.

In a statement, VINCI said that once the major project has been completed, national and local police services - totaling 2,000 people - will be brought together in a single structure spanning more than 50,000 square metres. It added that 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, while also including the upgrading of the structure to bring it in line with Level 4 of the European Standards for Earthquake Resistance. Also included in the contract is the construction of foundations for the new buildings, all interior trades work, and maintenance of the new site for a period of four years.

Work on the project began in January 2023 and is scheduled to be completed by December 2025, the statement added. Dumez Côte d’Azur teams will carry out asbestos removal in conjunction with VINCI Construction subsidiary Travaux du Midi. Roadwork and utility network construction will be done in tandem 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, it continued. The project will employ 500 people and encourage collaboration with small and medium-sized local companies whenever possible. 

Social and Sustainability Responsibility

Furthermore, 10% of the hours worked will be carried out by people in social integration programmes, the company said. It added that all of the concrete used on the project will be a low‑carbon Exegy®* standard formulation made by a local manufacturer, reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 30% compared to conventional concrete. Meanwhile, a significant part of the flooring, as well as the wood for the framework, roofing and carpentry for the historic façades will be biosourced. 

Keeping sustainability at the forefront, Dumez Côte d’Azur said that under the operations part of the contract, 300 square metres 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.

Finally, shutters will be installed to 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.