Reinvent the Seine, Le Havre

We have seen the beauty of the infinite expanse of the place. We have also discovered that this beauty of emptiness is possibly contradictory to the idea of urbanity; it is the sea that removes and makes emptiness very present in the landscape. One of the challenges of the project was to find a coherent and unique urban form.

When the historic docks of Le Havre were completely transformed into a campus and entertainment complex, the identity of the site (former industrial and port activities) was completely neglected.

The campus today is a series of random and fragmented entities.  In a landscape of basins and unbuilt zones, the «VOIDS» become a strategic component in the design. Our proposal aims to find an essence of the campus by managing the voids into a generous area that organizes and structures the public space.  

The project is an urban intervention which recovers the discontinuity at first and then provides a sign of modernity for Le Havre.

It is the result of two main actions:

At first we propose the continuation of the pre-existing horizontal urbanism, which offers a real activation of the ground thanks to its porosity. The articulation of an active socle engages the continuity of the architecture of the docks, sheltering the following programs: sports, concierge, restaurants and co-working spaces.

The second is more romantic. When you are walking in Le Havre, there is a palpable desire to float in the air to contemplate this tense equilibrium, to contemplate this moving maritime horizon. Our action is the articulation of an architectural sail that exposes and announces the sea.

credits

Architects: Clément Blanchet Architecture
Client: Odysée & Cie
Nature of the operation: Réinventer la Seine
Realised in: 2017
Site: Presqu’ile Frissard, Le Havre
Program: Mixed use.18.000m²
Budget: 45 Millions Euros

TEAM COMPOSITION

Engineering: TESS Ingénierie et Alto
Sustainability: Studio Environnement
Landscape Architect: MUGO