Parc du Grand Pré – LANGUEUX (Côtes-d’Armor)

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Completion year 2008
Contracting Authority Municipality of Langueux
Mission Landscaping an urban park expected to receive a differentiated garden maintenance approach
Project Management Team Landscape architects and designers Laure Planchais (mandated agent), Consulting engineers SAFEGE, Light designers Coup d’Eclat, Landscape architects and designers Agnès Sourisseau (expert in creating seedbeds for woody plants, and in forest techniques), Architects Benoît Robert (consultant or the multipurpose complex)
Surface area 12 hectares
Budget €1.5m exc. VAT
Ratio €12.5 exc. VAT per m²

The new urban park in Langueux has chosen an approach based upon 5 landscaping requirements that are specific to the site:

  • Stage the brook to highlight its geographic continuity towards the sea… this acts as a thread in the exploration of the sheer ecological wealth of the areas which the brook runs through from its spring all the way to the Bay of Saint-Brieuc. In this perspective, the park becomes the “tamed” part in the water’s journey.
  • Make good use of the site’s lines of force and faraway vistas: the valley is highlighted by making the spaces converge towards the end of the thalweg. A vast platform underlines the park’s different levels. The site’s longest stretch is enhanced by a major alleyway halfway up the slope.
  • Establish clear limits to the surrounding urbanisation by providing marked entrances towards the park: ultimately, denser urbanisation is proposed to assert the street’s urban character. The wood creates a buffer zone with the park’s interior.
  • Establish a link between the park and its rural surroundings: On the northern part, farming plots, the wood at the end of the valley; along the brook, a tree-lined corridor reminiscent of an orchard, and a shady garden in the most sheltered part of the valley.
  • Bring out an exotic atmosphere in the park’s most urban parts to fit with the nearby existing urban landscaping.

While designing the park, we were led to plan for the construction of the Grand Pré concert hall (Architects T. & J. Mostini) so as to make sure that the building will be suitable to its surroundings and that it will enjoy a quality setting.

http://www.legrandpre.info/le-site-le-parc/

Feedback (last visit in 2015)

  • Together with the engineering department and elected officials of the municipality of Langueux, we have been very happy to conduct a yearly follow-up of the park’s progress and management. Every opportunity for a visit is an excuse for all of us to meet and it is a pleasant experience every time.
  • The site’s fauna and flora is closely monitored by grassroots groups.
  • The engineering department has made nice picnic tables that match the initial park furniture.
  • In a smart move, a daycare centre has been built within the park, thus boosting the site’s daily use.
  • There are two small concerns: the new playground (made after completion) will ultimately deserve better integration, and the signage at the park entrances is somewhat “demonstrative”.