From
wastelandto mixed-use neighborhood

The closure of the Dunkirk shipyards in 1988 left a vast area to the north of the city center undeveloped. As part of an urban renewal project, the Urban Community decided to develop an attractive, relatively dense neighborhood on this 42-hectare site, representing an alternative to suburbanization in terms of both quantity and quality. In other words, it favors a social and generational mix, combining collective and individual housing, home ownership and rental, with a wide variety of building forms. The ZAC plans to build the following program:
– A complex of 800 to 1,000 housing units
– The outbuildings of the Lycée
– A gymnasium
– A community center
– An urban park of around 1.5 ha
– Development of the quaysides along the canal
– The corresponding infrastructures
– Local activities and shops directly linked to the new district.

an urban project
based on agenda 21

Following a competition for the construction of the first 175 housing units in the ZAC, the ANMA agency’s guide plan for part of the ZAC (20.5 ha) was selected. Appointed chief urban planner for the ZAC, ANMA proposed a strategic plan based on principles inspired by Agenda 21, notably with regard to social aspects (mix and diversity), environmental aspects (rainwater management, renewable energies) and economic aspects (housing flexibility and operational phasing).

In this spirit, Le Grand Large combines different building typologies and offers a variety of scales of public spaces: the quay with its gabled buildings, the shopping street with its planted terraces, the gardens in the heart of the blocks, the hemicycle park with its individual houses.

multiply
paths and uses

Between the gated buildings and the houses in the park are U-shaped, intermediate housing buildings, protected from the wind and opening onto vast private gardens. Pedestrians have pride of place here, and cars are restricted to serving the homes. Only one road is treated as an urban boulevard, with side-alleys reserved for local residents. Together with the park, a system of ditches takes care of rainwater management.

The diversity of the buildings and the social mix create a lively neighborhood. Green spaces are available at different scales, with porous boundaries between public and private domains to multiply pathways and diversify practices.

As part of the urban development plan, new facilities including a gymnasium, a school, a footbridge linking to Malo-les-bains and the Contemporary Art Fund will contribute to the development and appeal of the Grand Large district.

return the city
to the basins

The Grand Large district between the sea and the city center, between residential and multi-family housing, is a continuation of the overall strategy of the Neptune project launched in 1991, which aimed to turn the city back towards the basins. This urban transformation of the city center has already largely been achieved. The new district marks the start of the second phase of the project, with its focus on sustainable development and environmental quality.

The project, which should eventually include more than 1,000 homes, is the fruit of negotiated urban planning, based on a three-way collaboration between the Urban Community and the developer, the developers and social landlords, and the urban planner/architect.

PROJECT TEAM

PROJECTMANAGEMENT
Urban planner: ANMA

COMPETITION AND STUDIES
Nicolas Michelin
Cyril Trétout
Christel Giron
Thomas Hermann
Antoine Pinon
Claire Jeanson

DATA SHEET

PROJECT MANAGEMENT Société de Développement Du Dunkerquois (S3D)

INITIAL MISSION Advice and monitoring of operations (CPAUP, Opinions on projects in the sketch and PC phases); Occasional updates to the master plan; Consultation; Coordination

SCHEDULE 2007- 2013

AREA
20.5 ha
Park 1 ha
61,000 m² SHON

TYPOLOGIES
47% multi-family housing
25% intermediary housing
28% single-family homes

KEY PLAN FIGURES GUIDE
436 trees planted
75 dwellings / ha
1 parking space per dwelling
100% dwellings within 400 m of a public transport stop

ADDITIONAL ASSIGNMENTS ON GRAND LARGE NORD

AREA + 21 ha

Preliminary studies to define the landscape of public spaces and construction projects; Architectural monitoring and interfaces between private and public spaces; Feasibility studies for a footbridge and public facilities

SEE +
Dunkerque, Les Gâbles
Bordeaux, Bassins à flot
Lille, Arras Europe