Quartier A4 EST, Boulogne-Billancourt

Urban design of 4A East district for offices, housing, student housing, a school and retail. At the centre of the island, a school in biodiversity, flora and fauna in a natural environment. The gymnasium retraining wall is the habitat for birds insects and animals of the city.

Program	Development of a mixed neighborhood and public equipment: 13 481sqm of offices, activities and stores (Loci Anima). 10 272sqm of mixed housing and stores (Remy Marciano; Béal & Blankaert). A 3 200sqm student residence (Hamonic & Masson). A 6 600sqm gymnasium and school (Chartier Dalix).
Site	Macro lot A4 Est, Boulogne-Billancourt, France
Floor Area	34 243sqm / 370 500sqft
Cost of construction	€ 70 000 000 / $ 78 000 000
Timetable	Completed in 2015
Project Owners	Développement Boulogne Seguin, SAEM Val de Seine (aménageur), Vinci Immobilier, Nexity Entreprise.
Certification	HQE

Designed as Urban Architect of the A4 Est Neighborhood, the project places the school right in the center of the island, like a landscape freeing up views and drawing all eyes towards it. The gymnasium is hidden under a large green space which the school backs onto, while the playgrounds are climbing terraces and gardens, evoking rice fields planted up a mountain side. In order to enrich the biodiversity of the island, the interior of the school resembles a fragment of a cliff which will soon be covered in abundant vegetation. This means that the offices and the apartments enjoy a totally open and green view. They themselves are designed as tools for biodiversity: solitary beehives have been installed on the rooftops in an effort to promote pollination, huge collective planters and pots are dotted densely across the terraces of the apartments and offices, birdfeeders have been placed in the spaces outside the university residence. The macro lot is gradually being colonized by its very diverse users within different timeframes but with a great deal of intermingling. Residents, school children, office workers, but also hedgehogs, sunflowers, bees, small birds of prey and poppies are all appropriating the space that they share.
Photos : Jean Pierre Porcher /Film : André Moine