Paris, France (2007)
client: EPA Marne
design team: D PAYSAGE (lead landscape architects), TUGEC (infrastructure engineers) and Coup d’Eclat (lighting)
D PAYSAGE : Diala Haddad, Virginie Michaud, Laurence Roy, Guillaume Quemper
surface area: 20 800 m²
budget: 1 920 000 € HT

Serris town hall plaza  --

The Town Hall plaza is a simple wide-open space, designed to enhance the Town Hall. With great attention to detail, the level change between the ground floor and the road level is dealt with a subtle series of tapered shallow steps. This smooth transition opens up the space and invites the public towards the building. Water jets punctuate the steps and reflect the pure vertical lines of the Town Hall. The paving stones are laid out in a pattern of varying shades from light grey to black. The ground, like fabric unfolding from inside the Town Hall, rolls out onto the plaza and street and then continues on towards the school complex and the restaurants.

Pedestrian walks, lined with Gleditsia trees structure the space on both sides of the Town Hall and guide the eye towards the Park. Bowling areas and playgrounds animate the space and make it more socially interactive. At the back of the Town Hall, a garden contrasts with the hardscape plaza located in the front. Centred on the Town Hall, a stepped lawn follows the grade change and continues towards the Entertainment Pavilion. This green carpet provides a breathing space, which stretches beyond the Pavilion towards the Park. The promenade frames the lawn. Paths wend their way between the planting beds, inviting the public further into vegetation to enjoy the composition, textures and colours.