Les Bleuets  --

In response to numerous constraints of this existing housing estate, mainly due to its enclosed character and weak links to the rest of the neighbourhood, it became necessary to completely restructure and redevelop the Bleuets housing project designed in 1962 by Paul Bossard. The redevelopment includes the demolition of one building, the renovation of 9 blocks, the refurbishment of the roadways and car parks and the development of gardens and playgrounds at the heart of the block. The project includes creating a network of public roads in order to de-isolate the site and re-connect it with its surroundings. The three residential sections are linked by streets and arranged around a public plaza with cultural facilities (people’s hall) and sports facilities. The pedestrian walkways are identified differently as either “public / neighbourhood” or “secondary / at the scale of the housing blocks”. Controlled vehicle access has been introduced and new parking spaces created. Large bands of mono-specific planting run alongside the buildings creating a composition of textures and colours that change with the seasons.