Rooted in the legacy of the Léopold Bellan Foundation, which has been committed to education and care since the late 19th century, the project embodies a continuity between history and future. The rehabilitation preserves the gymnasium’s art nouveau character, while reinterpreting its symbolic architecture as a civic gesture of openness. By integrating a therapeutic pool within a listed monument, Estuaire bridges memory and innovation, reaffirming sport as both a cultural heritage and a collective right.

By reactivating a historic site through a contemporary lens, Estuaire transforms a space once dedicated to discipline and patriotic values into a place of care, resilience, and inclusion. The gymnasium, originally conceived as a tool for collective strength, now welcomes a broader understanding of performance, one that values recovery, diversity, and everyday practices as much as competition. This redefinition positions the project as both a tribute to past ideals and a manifesto for a society that embraces vulnerability as a shared force. Within this continuum, the architecture unfolds a sequence of therapeutic environments, heat in the hammam, cold in the cryogenic chamber, grounding in the mud bath, rest in the cabins, and recovery in the physiotherapy rooms. Each stage forms part of a cycle where the body is alternately stimulated, soothed, and regenerated, offering a complete choreography of care that transcends the boundaries between sport, health, and daily life. Through the alternation of warmth and cold, solitude and collectivity, ancient rituals and cutting-edge therapies, Estuaire choreographs a cycle of sensations that echoes both the rhythms of nature and the resilience of the human body.

Estuaire proposes the first aquatic facility in France entirely designed for people with disabilities, a place where therapy and leisure converge. Its spatial organization combines areas for rehabilitation, training, and relaxation, ensuring flexible use throughout the week for children, adults, seniors, and athletes. More than a pool, it becomes a tool for autonomy, social connection, and health, where accessibility is no longer a constraint but a driver of architectural creativity. The project offers a unique sensory journey where light, textures, and acoustics shape an atmosphere of inclusion. Every element, from water surfaces to circulation pathways, encourages new perceptions of the body and space. Estuaire is not only a facility, but a public arena where difference is celebrated, encounters are fostered, and boundaries are dissolved. It redefines the idea of community through the lens of diversity, making Bry-sur-Marne a pioneering territory of shared well-being.