Courcy-Grand Reims (FR)

Inhabited milieu's challenges

The 112 air base, which has been abandoned by the army since 2011, straddles three municipalities to the north of Reims. The project site is the former base located in the town of Courcy. The former military site is located in an agricultural area and is quickly connected to Reims and the village of Courcy. It is bordered by a decommissioned departmental road on its eastern edge and a railroad line on its western edge.
The canal from the Aisne to the Marne, which flows a few hundred meters from the project site, offers a landscape walk on the scale of the territory.
The orthogonal framework of the site organizes the built-up areas (3.8ha), the paved areas (9ha) and the open spaces (52.2ha). The low built density leaves room for open spaces that participate in the identity of the complexes; large square, planted roads, parking lots, groves, fields, etc. A heterogeneous vegetation with rich landscape qualities spreads over the site since the base is no longer in operation.
The 65-hectare operational site, which is free of any occupancy, is home to 40 buildings of various types representing 55,000 m2 of surface area to be reinvested. Built between 1930 and 1980, the buildings are in particularly good condition and offer spaces capable of accommodating very diverse programs. The vacant space appears here as the possibility of the living seeking to reconnect human and non-human activities. The transformation of existing resources through the asserted identity of the site allows for a project of experimentation far from standardized models.
Managed by a SCIC (Cooperative Society of Collective Interest) now owner of the land, the Microville 112 seeks to find a new role at the scale of the Greater Reims agglomeration.

QUESTIONS TO THE COMPETITORS

The aim of this new district is to generate economic, social and environmental value according to the
17 sustainable development goals defined by the UN and to reach the 2050 commitments for carbon neutrality.
The desire for autonomy and innovation aims to make this site a demonstrator for a smart, productive, inclusive and sustainable city. The perspective is that of a regenerative city: able to produce energy, food and biodiversity, manage and recycle waste, store carbon and purify water.
The challenges of the site invite to reactivate the existing heritage thanks to a mixed and innovative programming: housing, training facilities, productive activities and crafts that are organized within a partnership governance that supports a long-term collective project.
The typologies of the existing buildings encourage the reversibility and evolution of the building. The objective of zero net artificialization determines the development of the urban project.
The organization of this territory makes it possible to think of urbanism through gaps and questions the themes of mutualization of public spaces and the temporality of uses. How can future users cohabit intelligently? What is the right balance between these different activities to promote What is the right balance between these different activities to promote synergies on several synergies on several scales?
The question of mobility is raised on this 2km long site. Despite its quick connection to the territory, Microville 112 is an extensive urban complex. How can residents and workers move around easily while respecting commitments to sustainability and ecology?
The occupation of this territory goes through several phases articulating short and medium/long term. Its coherence is determined by an evolutionary and adaptable process that listens to new entrants. Innovative tools must be proposed to set up ambitious models in accordance with the living city.