Les jardins de La Défense

How could Paris La Défense be Europe’s number one business centre when the entrance to the complex was a tangle of noisy and polluted motorways leading to a series of run-down exhibition halls and outdated hotels, with no linking up with the Seine alongside?

This was a major problem, but there were a number of positive factors too: the area was served by the metro and buses; ample car-parking existed; a river bus might also be a possibility. There was a sizeable local population. With all this in mind, Charles-André Roche, Chairman of the Redevco Group, invited AIM Hanemian Architects to plan the lay-out for this exceptionally well-placed site on the Western fringe of Paris: streets for shops and businesses extending over 30,000 square meters on top of the roads and motorways.

Because it was necessary to respect visually the historic axis linking the Arc de Triomphe and the Arche de la Défense, the Agency decided to site the lowest building of the complex (single storey) at this point. It rises to a second storey at its edge like a wave along the bank of the Seine. On top of the shops there is a large garden of 33,000 square meters, the last piece of the ‘Défense’ jigsaw puzzle. As intended in 1967, it links the Esplanade to the Seine. The metro has been re-designed to give passenger access at both levels.

This much needed green corridor linked the Arche de la Défense to the island of Courbevoie and Neuilly. Above the shopping streets that are not covered, there are bridges and gantries bearing the urban equipment: lighting and blinds giving shelter from rain and sun.

This development was both necessary and ambitious. To bring it about Charles-André Roche, having become CEO of Saint-Louis Développement went into partnership with Espace et Projets and its CEO Norbert Petit, then with Sogeprom, Vinci and Altarea-Cogedim, with whom planning is still going on. It is in this dynamic context that the development continues, under the aegis of Matrix Architectural created by AIM Hanemian Architects for designing solutions.