A restructuring scheme for a 100-hectare site on the right bank of the Garonne, opposite the historic centre of Bordeaux, where the city’s major axes converge. In fact, given the curve in the river as it runs through the city, this is the true centre of Bordeaux, and thus has a clear potential to become its new civic centre. Prior to the urban design scheme, a thorough study was made of the city’s planning history as a basis for the construction of a centre that was homogeneous with the urban fabric on the other side of the river.
In order to make the Garonne a truly urban river, the scheme designed a waterfront façade as an apt response to the opposite bank and the squares of the Bourse and Quincoces. The great axes of circulation also respond to the design of the city’s enlightened 18th-century expansion, taking heavy traffic away from the river, which thus regains its civic character. The design of streets, squares and gardens aids integration onto the grid of the old neighbourhood of La Bastide defin the different stages of the development. The first includes the construction of 500 houses, shops, a Museum of Fine Art and an Auditorium, a 3-hectare park and various public squares.
