SPLA, the public development agency in charge of the transformation of Presquile de Caen, has chosen MVRDV out of 3 competitors to transform the 600ha area consisting of former industry and ports. The MVRDV plan envisions the future of Caen Presquile as a collection of gardens surrounded by intensified urban area. It envisions Caen as attractive city with a connection to the sea whilst interventions improve landscape, environment, mobility and connections. The project is planned to last ten years or longer. MVRDV extended the scope by widening the transformation area beyond the geographic boundaries of the peninsula and sketching a vision also for the adjacent areas. The resulting plan titled La Grande Mosaique is strongly based on respect for the existing structures and foresees realistic, careful and friendly urbanism. A large number of small yet well coordinated interventions results in a gigantic mosaic which introduces new qualities on a large urban scale.
Projects proposed are: Transformation of former factories into a collection of gardens, a highly connected mobility plan based largely on soft traffic, a number of new pedestrian bridges, a re-reconstruction of the city centre which was rebuilt after the Second World War in a rush and an improved connection to the sea. This ambition, titled Caen la Mer is symbolic for the plan which is defined by the small scale interventions that result in a large scale structure vision for Greater Caen. Caen Presquile starts near the historic centre of Caen and follows the valley of the River Orne which connects the city to the sea, not far from the D-day beaches. The MVRDV plan for the 600ha brown fields is a structure vision extending over the city of Caen and the towns of Mondeville and Hérouville Saint Clair. The transformation carries the ambition to fundamentally enhance attractiveness of Greater Caen. The project will take over a decade yet a number of projects for the Presquile has already been started, such as the new multimedia Library (by OMA) and a regional High Court (by BE Hauvette and Pierre Champenois).
We have unanimously chosen the most impressive plan said Philippe Duron, Mayor of Caen, who said that the jury liked the fresh view on urbanism. After having worked on a first study which started in March 2011, the MVRDV team won this competition from François Leclerq with JDS and Djamel Klouche with AUC/SLETH.
MVRDV collaborated with co-architect Diagram, Pro Developpement urban programmers, landscape architect Territoires, sustainability and engineering consultant IOSIS and urban strategist Philippe Cabane.