maintaining the 6b
cultural dynamic

The site de la Confluence – a former Alstom site – is positioned at the bow between the Seine and the Saint-Denis canal. Its almost insular position gives it great landscaping qualities despite the existence of strong infrastructure and noise constraints – TGV, RER trains, cars on platforms.

The urban planning project builds on the inner strengths of the site. It ensures, in the form of a drape, a landscape continuity of the route between Saint Denis station and the tip of the peninsula. Ultra-contextual, the operation integrates at its heart the maintenance of 6B as a cultural project, around which a place on the canal is open. It also responds to urban challenges by addressing the tramway on rue du Port and the western forecourt of Saint-Denis station, whose attractiveness it is extended through shops and a planted park lined with housing down to the banks of the canal.

a neighborhood
of programmatic diversity

he project sets up a programmatic diversity: which facilitates the continuity of urban life on the entire site. The outline of the overall plan is based on three singular points:

• on the quai de Seine: creation of a “skyline” of housing opening onto planted terraces,
• on rue du Port: the west square of the RER station is extended by a public garden, lined with housing and shops,
• on the banks of the Saint-Denis canal, the large mineral dock is covered with a succession of residential blocks.

In Néaucité, the challenge is to convert an abandoned industrial wasteland of 4 ha into a new mixed-use district enhancing the Seine front and taking advantage of its being close to public transport.

gentle town planning
and consultation

The relevance of the operation could be ensured thanks to an urban approach promoting dialogue and the uniting of points of view. A consultation strategy was elaborated throughout the study: with the inhabitants of Saint-Denis, then with the inhabitants of the first delivered units. These sessions, in the presence of the town planner (ANMA), the architects, the developer Quartus and the public territorial establishment Plaine Commune, allowed the creation of a common culture. The project and its details have been presented regularly to Plaine Commune as well as to the city of Saint-Denis. The integration of 6b into the economic package by Quartus also allowed its conversion and contributed to the success of the operation.

Balancing the polarity created by the service of the tramway to the bridge and hooking it up with the RER and the train, this urban extension contributes to the absorption of unsanitary housing and develops a programmatic diversity – housing, student residence, shops and activities – integrating a strong cultural dynamic – the artist residency 6b.

a neighborhood with
nature at its core

The newly created public space is a continuation of the existing road network. It tends to extend that network and places soft modes at the center of the urban route. The urban composition frees the area from cars and offers peaceful mobility thanks to a policy of shared parking by instalment.

This approach allows nature to return to the heart of the district and transform the identity of the site, until then marked by a mineral imprint. A linear park crisscrosses the center of the project between the buildings which are perpendicular to it. A rhythm of parallel openings contributes to the urban composition and to the creation of a healthy environment “with access to the sky”: each housing of the CAZ, whatever the building and thanks to its urban form, has a view through to the Seine or the Canal.

PROJECT TEAM

PROJECT MANAGER
Urbanist : ANMA
Landscape : TER

OPERATIONAL PHASE
Paola Marroquin

TECHNICAL SHEET

STATUS Completed

COMMISSIONED BY Brémond

YEAR 2011-2018

SURFACE 4 ha, 82 000 m² SHON

PHOTOGRAPHY
Marwan Harmouche (photo, vidéo)
Thomas Garcia (télépilote drone)

SEE +
Dijon, Écoquartier Grand Est
Lille, Arras Europe
Villeneuve d’Ascq, La Maillerie