Mareterra
The eleventh expansion of Monaco on the sea: six hectares reclaimed from the Mediterranean between the Grimaldi Forum and Anse du Portier, inaugurated on December 4, 2024 after eight years of construction.
Mareterra is the eleventh expansion of the Principality on the sea, and the first completely new district built on the Mediterranean. Between the Grimaldi Forum and Anse du Portier, six hectares have been reclaimed from the sea – approximately 3% of Monegasque territory, which increases to 208 hectares.
From a bill to a district
The story begins with a text: in 2015, the bill pronouncing the decommissioning of plots and volumes to the right of Anse du Portier was tabled and then debated at the National Council. The concession agreement of July 30, 2015 entrusts design, financing and marketing to the Groupement de l’Anse du Portier (Bouygues Travaux Publics and Le Portier Holding S.C.A.), materialized by the company “l’Anse du Portier” - the homonymous SCA published in the Journal in 2016 mentions Patrice Pastor among the people likely to control the project vehicle (file Patrice Pastor →). The project will take eight full years, mobilizing more than 300 companies and 6,000 people, until delivery in 2024, six months ahead of the initial schedule.
The feat is first and foremost maritime. Between September 2018 and July 2019, eighteen reinforced concrete boxes are assembled to form a belt which delimits the future district. Each is brought in to the nearest centimeter by multi-cat ships, then ballasted with sand until it reaches around 24,000 tonnes. This belt is not just a sea wall: the waves hit damping chambers, which limits their energy before they reach the new coastline.
A public district as much as a residential one
Contrary to the image of a private district, Mareterra reserves a large part of its land for the public: nearly three hectares of public spaces, a one-hectare park, a 500-meter seaside promenade, 19,000 m² of pedestrian zone and 600 meters of cycle path. The built program includes 120 very high standard apartments, 10 villas, shops, restaurants and a 16-ring marina.
The design associates Renzo Piano (RPBW) and Valode & Pistre, to which are added Tadao Ando and Norman Foster for several buildings and villas, with the landscaper Michel Desvigne. The district bears the names of the princely family: Princess Charlene swimming pool, Princess Gabriella square, Prince Jacques esplanade and promenade.
Environmental performance, and its controversy
Mareterra is presented as an eco-district: 9,000 m² of solar panels, 80% of heating and cooling covered by renewable energies, geothermal heating with sea water, 50% reuse of rainwater, 200 electric charging systems, BREEAM, HQE, BiodiverCity and Port Propre certifications. In terms of the marine environment, 510 m² of Posidonia meadows were saved before the work, artificial reefs were installed to encourage the colonization of the new coastline and a “Blue Cave” allows underwater life to be observed.
This environmental communication is also what divides. In April 2025, an international press review shows two opposing stories: headlines hail a “sustainable construction model in the marine environment” and an engineering feat – structure going down to 50 meters deep, strict seismic standards – while others denounce a “Dubaiization” of the Mediterranean and “irremediably lost” biodiversity. Memoria records both, dated and sourced.
A neighborhood that spills over into its neighborhood
Mareterra didn’t just add soil: it redesigned the neighboring neighborhood. The extension of the Grimaldi Forum, developed within the scope of the operation, will come into service in December 2024 and January 2025: an additional 10,000 m², including 6,000 m² that can be marketed, an exterior square of 2,000 m² and three new spaces — Pinède hall, patio, Diaghilev gallery. The establishment increases from 35,000 to 41,000 m² for its 25th anniversary. A year later, the promenade connects Mareterra to Larvotto, whose beach itself was renovated in 2021.
Why we archive it
A new neighborhood has no spontaneous memory: no one remembers what was there before, because there was nothing there - except the sea. This is precisely the role of Memoria: to keep track of the construction site, the decisions and the controversies so that, in thirty years, we can still say how Monaco gained these six hectares, at what cost, and with what effects on the marine environment.
All Mareterra archives are dated and linked to a public source. The facts are paraphrased; only titles, media, dates and links to publishers are included, with their mention. A correction, a document, a testimony? Write to Memoria.