Entrée de ville du Havre – Requalification des boulevards Churchill et Leningrad by Agence L’Anton & Associés

Project Presented by Jean-Baptiste Gastinne, First Deputy Mayor of Le Havre in Charge of Urban Planning and the Environment

Situated along the English Channel, the city of Le Havre was heavily bombed during World War II. It was rebuilt using reinforced concrete—shaped, tinted, and decorated—under the guidance of architect Auguste Perret. In 2005, Le Havre’s unique city center was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its remarkable architecture. In recent years, Le Havre has embarked on a new transformation: reintroducing greenery into its mineral landscape and rebalancing the dialogue between architecture and nature.

The city’s entrance landscape forms the first impression of the territory. For all municipalities, the city entrance is symbolic—a passageway that welcomes and encourages visitors. In Le Havre, this notion holds particular significance: located at the tip of the Pays de Caux, the city has only one main entrance. The former National Route 15, spanning nearly three kilometers through the city, serves as its principal axis. After fifteen years of work, this road has undergone a radical transformation—from an urban highway to a landscaped boulevard. Previously marked by large underground car tunnels, bridges, and interchanges where vehicles traveled at over 100 km/h, this was not the image we wished to project for Le Havre.

We selected the firm L’Anton & Associés to lead this extensive project: to recreate a tranquil landscape along a sterile roadway. This was a significant challenge, given the multiple stakes involved. Eliminating automobile traffic on this structural axis was unthinkable, but we aimed to integrate soft mobility options; transforming a once-impassable highway into a living space for residents of the surrounding neighborhoods. The goal was to slow traffic without halting it, streamline circulation, reintroduce biodiversity, anticipate future uses along the boulevard, and, importantly, manage stormwater.

One of our ambitions was to repurpose existing structures at all scales. Former road tunnels have been converted into stormwater storage facilities. A vast green esplanade has replaced three gas stations. Throughout the entire route, we envisioned parcel-based stormwater management, entirely disconnected from the city’s main network, utilizing various types of wetlands: filtration gardens, meadows, reed beds, wooded areas… Complemented by recreational and leisure facilities, these wetlands also symbolize Le Havre’s identity as an interface between land and sea.

For this extensive project, the perspective of L’Anton & Associés was invaluable. We completely redesigned our landscapes, allocating more space to vegetation and reducing concrete dominance. We made pedestrian life possible again by emphasizing the living environment. Le Havre’s city entrance is now appreciated in ways beyond just by car.

Key Features of This Project

Reuse and Environmental Transformation
Reuse is implemented at all levels: repurposing road platforms, converting mini-tunnels into stormwater storage facilities, reusing demolition concrete and asphalt millings, repurposing a footbridge structure, and transforming a hall into a gigantic pergola, among others.

Environment Serving Comfort
The proposal significantly calms traffic (reducing speeds from 90 km/h to 50 km/h) and simplifies the road’s functionality while leveraging its main characteristics. Stormwater across the 14-hectare project area is entirely disconnected from the city’s combined sewer system and managed on-site through wooded swales. A genuine urban natural space is created through protected promenades alongside these swales and the development of a linear park.

Gas Stations Transformed into a Stormwater Park
In place of three gas stations, a vast esplanade featuring various natural environments has been established, implementing a gentle stormwater purification system and promoting reinfiltration. This park is punctuated by a succession of wetlands (freshwood, filtration garden, wet meadow, reinfiltration reed bed), along which convivial spaces are developed, reflecting the unique characteristics of these moist surroundings. Annually, 140,000 m³ of stormwater are now purified and reinfiltrated, preventing the dilution of wastewater treated at the sewage treatment plant.

In Le Havre, a maritime and river city, the presence of freshwater tends to diminish in favor of marine waters (port basins, beach, etc.). This project aims to restore an estuarine ambiance at the city entrance—a space where the river, its waters, and the urban area converge.

• Other credits you need or wish to write:
Infra Services: Engineering consultancy specializing in infrastructure and integrated stormwater management
Cogeci: Structural engineering consultancy
CDVIA: Traffic engineering consultancy
Zoom: Ecology consultancy