Parvis de l’Hôtel de Ville, Reims

The forecourt of the Town Hall must first of all be a simple and legible floor. By stripping the place of any artificial complexity (border, barriers ...), we offer a support backed by the current topography of the place. To preserve the archaeological potential of the place, without risking complex and uncontrolled campaigns, the project is satisfied with a surface layer, without anchoring or deep excavations.

The response is measured and adjusts to the expectations of the various users of the city. To free a large central square, vehicles are diverted to the outskirts, following the new traffic plan. The roads are recalibrated to respond to flows emanating from rue Thiers and General Sarrail. If the number of parking spaces is reduced, slots are distributed in favor of shops.

The ground is treated as a fluid mesh, harmonising at the same level the spaces intended for the different users. In this unified space the demarcation between vehicles, pedestrians and soft transport is made by contrasts of paving, colors and textures drawing a general weaving on the whole of the place.

Numerous projects of shared spaces show - in France and abroad - that spaces without demarcation promote virtuous uses by different users. After a period of adaptation, a form of self-regulation is put in place, and the shared spaces are thus more secure, peaceful and less stressful. We see the terminals as an element suffered and superfluous.

This element should be for us a point of dialogue and support with the city, to judiciously place the cursor between the empowerment of users in a pact of good living and less relevant banal protection.