Client: Ville d’Alençon
Design team: Atelier Jahel (lead architect), D PAYSAGE (landscape architects) and LGX (engineering consultant)
My role: Project landscape architect (from competition phase to construction supervision)
Location: Alençon, France
Date: 2010-2014
Surface area: 24,000 m²
Budget: 2.08M € (excl. VAT.)
The esplanade for the Jules Verne School, together with public and private spaces for the new residential block of 60 dwellings are all part of the rehabilitation of the Perseigne neighbourhood, which was built for the workers at the neighbouring factory (Moulinex) in the 1960’s. To link the neighbourhood with the city centre of Alençon, we proposed an esplanade with a lace design, in homage to the historical lace-making traditions of the town of Alençon. The extension of the tree lined cycling path offers a link with the green open spaces along the Sarthe River (to the East). The esplanade thus pays tribute, not only to the lace-makers but also to all workers, past and present, who have shaped and contributed to the development of Alençon. The esplanade reveals on a grand scale a refined and exceptional art that today carries the town’s image. The urban furniture and the planting are harmoniously integrated in raised and lowered volumes that form a lace pattern, which constitutes a coherent space and a unique composition.