Les Fonderies (public garden)

At the heart of the Ile de Nantes, a neighbourhood is being redefined in the area known as the Fonderies. This new community is composed of offices, housing and public spaces . 

The area used to be composed of the brownfield site of the former foundry, office buildings and apartment buildings, based on an urban planning model left over from the 1960s. It had few transportation options at the centre, and it was bordered by major boulevards that cut it off from adjacent communities.

In the context of the Ile de Nantes project, the entire area was reconfigured, with an emphasis on public place redevelopment, to provide new social and functional diversity.

The main goal of the public space redevelopment efforts was to open up the neighbourhood. Plans called for extending a number of existing streets and creating new junctions.

The public spaces radiate out from the Fonderies Garden, the cornerstone of the redevelopment. The garden is located in the rehabilitated halls of the former foundry, and benefits not only the new constructions going up around the Fonderies, but also the entire neighbourhood. This extraordinary garden showcases the botanical and horticultural heritage of Nantes and reveals traces of the former industrial activity of the site, with rehabilitated furnaces and pits. It also links the pedestrian esplanade west of the halls with the Rue des Boires, another esplanade to the east.