Parc du Peuple de l'Herbe / Parque del gente de la hierba

The "Park of the People of the Meadows" ("Parc du Peuple de l'Herbe") is situated in the meander of Chanteloup, between Carrières-sous-Poissy and the Seine. At different times dedicated to market gardening or to aggregate exploitation, this territory has changed its image completely in less than a century, and became a space with no real dedicated function. Two big lakes and the old traces of the city walls were punctual remains in a largely grass-covered plain, with the wide open horizon of the Seine recalling the fluvial context of the site.  Reinventing the purely ecological concept of a park, Agence Ter used the qualities of a contemporary peripheral landscape park, and those of an extensive ecological area to form a new synergy.

The interventions within this project consist of multiplying the ecological zones and introducing management strategies in order to augment the attractiveness and the environmental qualities of the site. The project is based on the current strengths and challenges of the site (e.g.: presence of waste at shallow depth, exotic and invasive plant types, large attendance,…) as well as the potentialities to improve the ecology of the place.

The proposal is at the same time realistic and ambitious, trying to reconstruct an entire set of natural environments native to this section of the Seine Valley. Some of those had become rare at the regional scale, in particular the wetlands. Situated in a floodzone, it is crucial to take into account the microtopographies responding to flood risks and to respect the dynamics of the river while limiting public access at certain places to stimulate the development of certain species for the future.

The park is composed of three distinct layers:
- The active strip that treats the transition between park and city
- The natural space, a real open space that is composed of large brownfields and temporary ponds
- The zones of contact with the river and the lakes with a particular attention to the alluvial area. The goal is to allow to the public to reach the river thanks to a remodeling of the river banks.

The project highlights the current assets of the site and will continue over time to improve the ecological environment through an adjusted plan of ecological management.