French base "Le Defi" for the America's Cup, Auckland New Zealand

The pro­ject for the French base ​“Le Défi” for the 2000 America’s Cup in Auckland, desi­gned by the firm Loci Anima, repre­sents an inno­va­tive approach to tem­po­rary and modu­lar archi­tec­ture. Intended to sup­port the French sai­ling team ​“Le Défi” in this pres­ti­gious com­pe­ti­tion, the base was desi­gned to be dis­mant­led and trans­por­ted from France to New Zealand.

A modu­lar and light­weight archi­tec­ture
The ​“Le Défi” base is enti­rely construc­ted from ship­ping contai­ners, offe­ring a light­weight, easily trans­por­table, and reu­sable struc­ture. This design allows for quick ins­tal­la­tion on site in Auckland while mee­ting the team’s func­tio­nal needs: offices, work­shops, boat han­gar, res­tau­rant, and pano­ra­mic ter­race. The façade fea­tures a double skin of ETFE, a trans­lucent and insu­la­ting mate­rial that pro­tects from the sun’s rays while enabling natu­ral ven­ti­la­tion by har­nes­sing local ther­mal breezes, a phe­no­me­non known as the ​“Pepica effect.”

Project details
Floor area: 1,000 m²
Client: Le Défi Français (Bouygues Télécom /​Transiciel)
Location: Auckland, New Zealand
Construction cost (excl. tax): €500,000
Delivery date: 2000
Award: Innovation prize awar­ded by the New Zealand Institute of Architects

A mul­ti­dis­ci­pli­nary team
The pro­ject was rea­li­zed in col­la­bo­ra­tion with a team of experts:
Architect: Loci Anima
Structural engi­nee­ring: ARUP (New Zealand)

This base illus­trates Loci Anima’s abi­lity to design tem­po­rary infra­struc­tures com­bi­ning per­for­mance, aes­the­tics, and envi­ron­men­tal res­pect, while mee­ting the spe­ci­fic requi­re­ments of inter­na­tio­nal events.