Pirates World
Artificial wood façades and rockwork for the resort water park, weathered to read as salvaged ship timber.
- Site
- Pirates World, Agde
- Scope
- Artificial wood, rockwork
- Signature
- Salvaged-timber façades
- Constraint
- Chlorinated, wet environment
The diary
The rock exists in steel long before it exists in stone. 01Phase 1Setting out and steelwork
Survey points are transferred from the model to the ground, then the steel armature is welded in place and every clearance is checked before the first mesh goes on.
Shotcrete is sprayed and shaped in the same movement. 02Phase 2Shotcrete
The shell is sprayed with pool-compatible mixes: everything here lives in splash water and chlorine.
Texture is cut by hand, against the clock of the setting concrete. 03Phase 3Carving, wet
Grain, nail holes and split ends are carved into the wet material so the concrete reads as old timber from arm's length.
Buildings grow out of the rock, not in front of it. 04Phase 4Façades and details
Themed buildings, timber, plaster and ironwork are built into the same surface, so the architecture and the rock read as one set rather than as decor placed against a backdrop.
Water is tested full-scale before a single coat of paint. 05Phase 5Water, planting and integration
Basins, waterfalls and submerged structures are tested and adjusted, then planting is threaded into pockets left in the rock so vegetation and stone age together.
The last layer is the one that decides whether it looks real. 06Phase 6Painting and handover
Painting is layered wet-look and sun-bleached at once, then sealed for permanent humidity.
