new spoils
emblematic front

Along the Quai des Anglais, the Gâbles buildings designed by ANMA have marked the Dunkirk harbor landscape since 2012. Ten years later, the agency has seized the opportunity to extend this emblematic skyline along the channel. It has designed a new series of “gâbles” housing units, affirming the singularity of this built front.

This return to the ZAC du Grand Large site is taking place against a backdrop of profound urban transformation, where contemporary challenges – climate transition, economic tensions, changing uses – are calling for a renewal of our intervention frameworks.

Les Gâbles 2 consists of 85 housing units that reinterpret the founding principles of the first project, using architectural codes that have been updated to take account of today’s challenges in terms of quality of use, durability and sober construction.

live
facing the channel

ANMA designs these new Gâbles wearing the inhabitant’s glasses: it redoubles its attention to every daily gesture. As a result, 100% of the homes feature private outdoor spaces with carefully crafted privacy. Generous south-west-facing loggias overlooking the lake, balconies equipped with storage space, living rooms bathed in light, first-day kitchens: quality of use in common-sense details.

Apartment typologies are interwoven in a slender layout that maximizes through- or dual-oriented housing. On the roofs, duplexes under the Gâbles slopes feature atypical volumes and generous living areas to accommodate a variety of occupancy patterns.

Landscaped core
And maritime

The landscape is a central feature of the project: designed in close relationship with the buildings, it accompanies the architectural breathing spaces, the visual breakthroughs towards the port and, from the housing units, the views opening onto the shared gardens at the heart of the block. Open to the ground and extensively planted, these maritime gardens extend the ecological corridor of the channel and form a living network with the existing environment. The plant palette, based on indigenous species, is inspired by the dune landscapes of the Flemish coast, anchoring the project in Dunkirk’s natural ecosystem.

A mosaic of interlocking landscaped environments, each making its own contribution to life: semi-wet areas designed to capture and filter rainwater, open meadows as meeting and relaxation areas, and protective forest sequences, guaranteeing shade, coolness and privacy.

frugality
and rationality

In 2024, the agency began a partnership with Time to Beem in order to tame their digital tool for calculating the LCA of buildings right from the upstream design phases. Les Gâbles 2 then became the pilot for a new integrated design process: carbon simulations and lifecycle pre-analyses were carried out right from the project’s inception, enabling us to anticipate the impact of materials and construction systems on the operation’s overall carbon footprint.

The structural envelope of the 6 buildings is designed in masonry with insulating pumice blocks. This no-bake, fire-resistant and naturally insulating construction solution plays an active role in the project’s decarbonization strategy.

Les gâbles 2 has also been subjected to the scrutiny of our Housing Quality Dashboard to objectively qualify and optimize the project’s quality of use according to its context.

PROJECT TEAM

PROJECTMANAGEMENT
Architect: ANMA

COMPETITION
Pierre Chancerel

STUDIES
Pierre Chancerel
Chantal Hung
Sébastien Moinet

CHANTIER
Sylvain-Pierre Bachoc

TECHNICAL SHEET

STATUS Under construction

PROJECT MANAGEMENT Nexity

CALENDAR Provisional delivery 2027

SURFACE 5,300 m² net floor area
or 62 m² of living space per dwelling

COST 10.6 M€ EXCL. TAX

IC CONSTRUCTION 916 kgeqCO2/m² Threshold 2022

VIEWS ANMA, Vertex

SEE MORE

Dunkerque, Les Gâbles
Dunkerque, ZAC du Grand Large
Lieusaint, Logements de l’Etang