The city of Nantes has chosen to rehabilitate the former Miséry quarry and its surroundings in the Bas-Chantenay district. We are pleased to have supplied them with our recycled cobbles. Nobléma has thus delivered, during 2019, 20 trucks of old cobbles, (i.e. approximately 500 tons of recycled setts) for the two sites of the project: Hermitage street and the extraordinary garden.
Laying of ancient cobbles in Hermitage street
A major tourist attraction, Hermitage street is frequented each year by around 500,000 visitors who climb it to reach the Jean-Bruneau esplanade, near the Jules-Verne Museum and the planetarium.
The objective of this repair is to make pedestrian paths more comfortable. The width of the roadway has been reduced, without removing the two directions of traffic or the parking spaces on the opposite side of the Loire. Thus, the roadway and networks have been completely renovated. The roadway was resurfaced in asphalt with beautiful cobblestone surfaces on both sides of the roadway.
Our ancient King’s paving stones, dating from the 19th century, are a mixture of formats, sandstone and granite. We find the following formats: 14x14x14 cm – 14x20x14 cm and 18x18x18 cm. The set is very colourful with colours such as grey, bronze, beige, pinkish and ochre.
The irregular format of the King’s setts makes it easier to lay. In the Hermitage street, the reclaimed setts are laid on thin mortar with a mortar joint. They are used to create pedestrian plazas and car parking areas. Paving stone gutters are laid in a line with very tight joints.
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- Cobblestone gutter in Hermitage street
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- Laying of King’s setts
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- Laying King’s setts on mortar
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- Laying large setts on mortar
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- Hermitage street with our King’s setts
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- King’s cobbled urban road
Noble materials for an extraordinary garden
Our King’s setts were also delivered for the development of the extraordinary garden. This former quarry was bought and redeveloped by the city and became the 11th park called the extraordinary garden. This park is presented by the town hall as “one of the most beautiful urban gardens in the world”. Indeed, in addition to the presence of our King’s cobblestones in various squares and rest areas :-), this botanical park includes more than 25,000 plants and an impressive 25-metre high waterfall.
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- View of the extraordinary garden in Nantes – J. Urbach/ 20 Minutes
We invite you to visit other Noblema projects in France. If you have a personal or professional project and would like to know more about natural stone, cobbles and setts, please contact us.
