Loop

The strategic position of Saint-Sauveur Station in the metropolitan area raises the question of the centre-periphery relation or the overall lack of green and leisure spaces. Thus this future, predominantly residential 26-hectare district in the city centre must also offer solutions on the metropolitan scale of Lille. The “piercing” of great diagonals links the city-centre to the Valenciennes exit and the Euralille 2 district. Widened to around 40 metres and planted with vegetation, they provide two linear parks reserved for soft means of transport including the possible tram-train.
By looping the four extremities of the diagonals we obtain a topographic loop which offers a panoramic circuit with high usage potential, creating a network of Lille’s large green structures – the citadel, the boulevards and the rampart walk. By virtue of the Loop, this new urban landscape alternates large solids and voids, thus proposing a great variety of sensations and situations as well as proximity to a 7-hectare linear green space at every point of the district. This tangential system is also an advantage for the existing quarters. The aim is to obtain the same qualities as in individual housing in a denser environment by superimposing tri-dimensional parcels (a primary and permanent structure), allowing great internal flexibility ogether with substitution of living units in harmony with the wishes and evolution of the inhabitants.