For the 60th anniversary of the Châtillons district in Reims, Plurial Novilia offers a new lease of life to the Tour des Argonautes

The construction site will extend until 1^er quarter of 2025 and will give a new lease of life to this architectural symbol of the city – for a total amount of work estimated at 6 million euros.

• The 17-story, 50-meter-high Tower will benefit from a new, more contemporary facade, new elevators, redesigned common areas, and housing brought up to date and up to standards – for better overall energy performance.
• The project is part of the vast NPNRU project carried out by ANRU and the City of Reims since 2019 with the active support of donors such as PLURIAL NOVILIA.
• In total, PLURIAL NOVILIA will invest 112 million euros in the renovation of the district, including 6 million for the Argonauts Tower alone.
• The launch of the construction site coincides with the end of the 60th festivities^rd neighborhood anniversary.

A visual marker of the City of Reims

While the festivities of the 60^rd anniversary of the district ends today, the lessor has chosen to kick off the rehabilitation project of this building which is part of the History of the City of Reims. Inaugurated in 1972, the 17-story Tower rises more than 50 meters above the ground and houses on its roof terrace a monumental sculpture measuring 19 meters in size and weighing 25 tons, created by the National Art Center and technology in 1995: the boat among the stars.

For Fabien Petit, President of Plurial Novilia: « With a highest point almost 70 meters above the ground, the Tour des Argonautes is almost as high as Reims Cathedral, and has become over the years a visual marker of our city. So few people know that the installed work at its top represents Jason's ship leaving with the Argonauts in search of the Golden Fleece, the oars raised towards the sky, everyone has in mind this double sail visible when we arrive from Paris, and which lights up blue at night. Rethinking the Argonauts Tower, giving it back its central role in the district, is putting the spotlight back on a symbol that belongs to all Rémoises. »

Located in the heart of the Châtillons district, on Place des Argonautes, the Tower is made up of small types of apartments originally intended to accommodate a predominantly young population. Very quickly, it became an emblematic place in this district, thought of as a small village with the Tower serving as a bell tower, and which is organized around several centers of blocks with both collective and suburban housing, shops, and public, administrative and social services.

The Châtillons district is an integral part of the history of Reims since it was on a former agricultural farm located to the south of the city that the district was created in 1962, on the initiative of Jean Taittinger.

For Johnny Huat, Managing Director of Plurial Novilia: « Renowned town planners, architects and landscapers such as Maurice Rotival, Michel Marot, Daniel Tremblot, Robert Clauzier and Jacques Simon have imagined this atypical layout, in the spirit of a village, which explains in particular the attachment, the affection even, residents for their neighborhood. Reims is one of those cities whose very town planning speaks to the heart and the urban renovation project has no other ambition than to preserve and strengthen this state of mind – by reinventing it and modernizing it so that it corresponds to the current requirements, particularly environmental ones. »

A long-term project

If the promise of a place where life is good has been fully kept for years, half a century after the inauguration of the Tower, the Châtillons district no longer seems completely adapted to contemporary lifestyles and uses. Some of the buildings have aged badly and the traffic as well as the lack of green spaces decided the ANRU to include the district in 2016 in the list of the NPNRU, the New Urban Renewal Program. So for 7 years now, the Greater Reims Urban Community, the City of Reims and all local stakeholders, including PLURIAL NOVILIA, have been working hand in hand to revitalize this district.

For Johnny Huat, Managing Director of PLURIAL NOVILIA: “The NPNRU des Châtillons aims in particular to de-densify the neighborhood, by bringing more diversity and fluidity. It is a vast project which will extend in total over a decade and 8 distinct islets. Nearly 21 collective buildings, or 250 housing units, will be demolished and as many rebuilt. Place des Argonautes will be redesigned to make it a more open and more welcoming public space, with at its heart a Tower completely reimagined in its appearance, its performance and its uses. »

Creation of new circulation and green spaces; redesigned parking; connection to the district heating network; reconstruction of the neighborhood house; reception of a Health Center or a bus with a high level of service: between redevelopment, rehabilitation and residentialization, the NPNRU will completely transform the Châtillons district, while retaining its specificity as a “small village within the city”, while further integrating into the dynamics of the City and Greater Reims.

The rehabilitation of the Argonauts Tower, a central project

The launch of the Argonauts Tower rehabilitation project is part of a broader reflection around the centrality of the Place of the same name. Four buildings have already been demolished in order to open up the square to neighboring islets and the neighborhood center will be moved near the Châtillons aquatic area. The most visible change for residents will be the complete renovation of the facade, today made up of particularly massive corrugated sheet cladding.

For Hugues Lhermitte, Director of Heritage at PLURIAL NOVILIA: “We want to reinforce the slender character of this very squat building, with a lot of work on the verticality. The floors will be grouped in twos or threes, thanks to a cladding layout system marking the noses of the slabs every two levels, large vertical hollow joints on two or three floors, as well as kinetic inserts in brushed stainless steel. »

At the same time, the "three-pointed star" aspect will be reinforced, and the colors of the Tower's cladding will be reminiscent of the colors of the glass paste tiles so typical of the district's historic buildings. The restoration of the facades in cladding will obviously be coupled with thermal insulation work from the outside, the restoration of waterproofing on the roof or the replacement of the exterior aluminum joinery – with the installation of motorized roller shutters. The BBC Effinergie Rénovation labeled project should make it possible to upgrade the Tower's energy label from D to B, for a reduction in consumption estimated at 60% (i.e. 25 euros reduction per month per accommodation on average).

Inside the Tour des Argonautes, if the 3 elevators have already been replaced, the common areas will soon be subject to work (changing doors, renovation of landings, etc.) and the 157 accommodations will benefit from a specific program of adaptation, with replacement of part of the sanitary facilities, electrical safety, installation of thermostatic taps.

There are also plans to create bathrooms suitable for seniors in certain accommodations. The work will start in September for a duration of 18 months, and an estimated cost of the operation of 6 million euros.

In total, PLURIAL NOVILIA will invest 112 million euros over 10 years across the entire NPNRU of Châtillons.

60 candles blown out with enthusiasm

The launch of the Argonauts Tower construction site is also an opportunity for PLURIAL NOVILIA to mark the end of the festivities of the 60^rd anniversary of the district created in 1963. From April to July, Plurial Novilia and Alpha Logement organized, in collaboration with the Maison de Quartier des Châtillons and numerous local associative partners, a series of festive events to celebrate the district, its past and its future, with the active participation of residents. The projects have been designed in an approach that is both fun and educational, as an extension of actions to improve the living environment and development carried out regularly for years by the field teams.

The twenty culinary, sporting, historical and cultural events were a great success, attracting a large family audience, and allowing residents to discuss with the city and landlord teams about the development of the neighborhood, their desires, their expectations.

For Fabien Petit, President of PLURIAL NOVILIA: “What we are currently doing in the heart of Châtillons is representative of the way in which we see our role as a social landlord on a daily basis. Whether it is building, rehabilitating, developing spaces or creating social ties, our desire is always to improve the daily lives of residents in and around housing. Housing is what binds us and we were able to verify this during these 3 months of celebrations and convivial moments: people enjoyed getting together to talk about their neighborhood and its future. This is why we must preserve, maintain, improve and constantly adapt our heritage: so that it can continue to live and bring together all generations. »

Argonauts Tower

• 50 m high – 17 floors – 9 housing units/floors (6 T3s and 3 T2s with the exception of the upper ground floor with 4 T2s and the 8th/11th floors corresponding to shared senior housing), i.e. 157 housing units in total
• “The Boat among the Stars” 19 m wide and 25 T produced by the National Center for Art and Technology and inaugurated in 1995
• The estimated cost of this operation is €6.018.248 including tax (fees and contingencies included)
• Start of construction – September 2023 – for 18 months – Estimated delivery: first quarter 2025
• BBC EFFINERGIE RENOVATION label
• Current label D > projected B

Actions programmed by Plurial Novilia:

• Production of 40 houses dedicated to social access (rue de Tourville) and a tertiary rental building (Pl. des Argonautes) including the Plurial Novilia agency, and premises dedicated to health professionals
• Demolition of 21 residential buildings (impacting 245 social rental housing units), and occasionally business premises and parking lots
• Requalification of 2.322 collective and individual social rental housing units
• Residentialization of 2.130 collective social rental housing units
• A development operation on the area of ​​the semi-buried car park of Place des Argonautes including demolition work, a necessary prerequisite for the transformation of the desired Place (>making Place des Argonautes an open, reinforced public space, leveled on the surrounding public roads, reconciling city and nature, in order to accommodate different uses and events including the weekly market)
• One-off interventions on the existing commercial space (optimization of premises layout, demolition, reconstruction of the awning, etc.)

Financial investments:

Plurial Novilia programming estimated at €111.686.235 including tax including €6.962.369 from ANRU subsidy and €818.505 from Grand Est region aid.

Progress of the Plurial Novilia program as of June 30, 2023:

• Projects delivered or nearing completion: 946 social rental housing units rehabilitated, 76 social rental housing units demolished, 366 social rental housing units residentialized and 1 rehousing plan
• Ongoing projects: Rehabilitation of 512 social rental housing units, 2 rehousing plans and residentialization of 376 social rental housing units
• Work planned to start in 2023: Rehabilitation of 445 social rental housing units (including the 157 social rental housing units at the Tour des Argonautes), demolition of 95 social rental housing units and residentialization of 248 social rental housing units