Reflecting pool, Reflecting pool in Nantes, France
This reflecting pool extends approximately 65 meters across a public space in Nantes, surrounded by walkways and seating areas. Its level water surface acts like a mirror, capturing images of the buildings and sky above.
A reflecting pool was first proposed in 1938 by city architect Étienne Coutan in his master plan for Nantes's central spaces, but the idea was dropped. It returned in 2011 within the Mercoeur-Feydeau development, part of the pedestrian route La promenade de Nantes linking the station to the Loire. Built over one year for 3.2 million euros, it opened in September 2015.
The water feature serves as a gathering space where residents pause to watch their surroundings reflected below. People settle on nearby benches to observe how the rippling surface captures light and movement throughout the day.
The pool is freely accessible during daylight hours and easy to reach from surrounding paths and streets. Benches are positioned around the water, making it simple to find a place to sit and observe.
The pool's 2 cm sheet of water hides a 183 m³ reservoir and a technical room buried beneath the granite, reached by micro-piles driven up to 20 m deep. A rain sensor adjusts the water supply, and the mist comes straight from the city drinking-water network.
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