The site of Les Groues, a former 40 hectare wide military site, is a great opportunity for the agglomeration to create a new virtuous district less than 2 km from the centre of Orléans.
Straddling the communes of Orléans and Saint-Jean de la Ruelle, the project seeks a fine articulation with its surroundings. The creation of a 9-hectare park was the key to the project. Rather than placing it in the heart of the neighbourhood, which would have enclosed it, we proposed to expand it into two linked entities, forming links with the adjacent neighbourhoods. Associated with a varied programme (shops, school groups, service residences, nurseries or silo car parks), these two parks create polarities that appeal as much to the inhabitants of the new district as to those living in existing neighbourhoods. The landscape is the backbone of the project. It is based on the uses of the site and seeks to reveal the qualities of the existing. The different spaces are inspired by the forest landscape motifs of the Orléans context, both in the parks, public spaces and streets of the project. The 1,700 dwellings are part of this landscaped setting. They are organised in blocks that take up the characteristics of the Orléans block. The buildings are set out in a line along the streets and the cores of the blocks, which are heavily planted, are home to individual houses.