Rennes : Saint-Martin meadows

The goal of the project is to encourage the public to reinvest in public space, by basing the project on Rennes’ urban culture.

Urban park
Floodable area
Reed beds
Water management
Animals
Observatory
Footbridge

Client :
Ville de Rennes

BASE – Team representative
+ EODD + INGEROP

Rennes / Ille-et-Vilaine
Budget / 9 M€
Surface area / 30 ha
Completion / 2018
Under construction

The Saint Martin meadows are a fragment of nature located on the northern edge of the city centre.

Disguised as an abandoned area, these meadows offer a unique point of view over the city. Water shaped this site, rendering it indomitable and therefore protecting it from urbanisation. Today it is a natural landscape that sits by the city centre.

While preserving this identity, the meadows are designed to welcome cultural festivals and popular events. A public space which the inhabitants can appropriate temporarily or permanently.

The spatial structure and vegetation is largely based on the existing framework. The project was a matter of clarifying the different existing landscape structures. The site is structured around gradients; from natural dry landscape to wetlands, from domestic to more wild spaces. We see gradients on a spatial and ecological level as well.

More than just a park, the Saint Martin meadows question the role of nature and the wild in the city. It’s not about making the place a sanctuary neither is it about fighting back against the urban fabric nor is it about belittling the role of this site. It’s status is ambiguous; for us it is a research opportunity to discover new activities in dynamic urban nature.