Inauguration of Ilot Fertile, the first district aiming for zero carbon in operation in Paris

Delivered since June 2022, this project is built on a former industrial wasteland of 1,3 hectares called the Triangle Éole-Évangile. This new district is one of the first of this magnitude, resulting from the Réinventer Paris competition, to be delivered. On the occasion of this inauguration, project actors and residents testify to a common pride around a virtuous district, precursor of the city of tomorrow.

• A creative animation program to amplify interactions and encourage exchanges;
• An environmental ambition from design to operation through construction;
• A societal commitment via the establishment of the Rosa Lab piloted by the association Dédale, which supports the transformations of the district.

For Anne Hidalgo, Mayor of Paris: “The fertile island embodies the broad lines of how we are developing and will develop the city tomorrow. Make the city on the city, reduce the impact of buildings in the construction phase and throughout their life cycle, promote diversity in all its dimensions and green as much as possible as soon as possible. It is one of the parts of this north of Paris which is in full transformation and whose developments will be accelerated in the coming years, particularly through the legacy of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. »

For Laurent Mourey, Managing Director Linkcity France: “One island, that of the Eole Evangile triangle, historically landlocked, now offers its full potential. This virtuous project combines quality and living environment with great programmatic diversity, real environmental ambition and long-term social commitment. It is clear that this islet is fertile; it is in full bloom and is spreading around”

An animation creative program

Under the impetus of the City of Paris, the North-East of Paris is changing. Îlot Fertile contributes to this development through the links they create between different neighborhoods and between two boroughs, its functional mix and the attention paid to the well-being of users over the long term. Designed by the architecture and urban planning agency TVK, four buildings are located on either side of a real public space linking rue d'Aubervilliers to the Rosa Parks forecourt, towards the RER E station and the of tram.

Îlot Fertile is structured through:

• An accommodation offer for all and for all uses: free, assisted, young professionals, students, tourism. The 440 housing units are broken down into 126 mixed housing units (79 vacant rentals on behalf of Ircantec, managed by SwissLife Asset Managers France, 31 intermediate rentals and 16 social rentals on behalf of ICF Habitat La Sablière), two residences on behalf of ICF Habitat La Sablière, including 164 student accommodation operated by ARPEJ, and 150 social housing operated by the PARME association.

For Fatiha Belguendouz, ICF Habitat La Sablière site manager: “The accommodations are well built and very airy. Most kitchens are open to the living areas, and many tenants have told us how nice that is. The living rooms also have large bay windows, which gives them the impression of not being locked in and having a view of the outside. A view without vis-à-vis in addition, which is rare in Paris. In general, the tenants are happy. It was a nice delivery. »

The project also includes a 129-room hotel on behalf of DWS operated by Okko Hotels.

• An economic offer at the heart of the dynamics of production and creation illustrated by an office offer of 7.000 m², with modular floors of approximately 1.000 m², on behalf of STAM Europe. A training campus enriches this offer on behalf of the RIVP and managed by La Passerelle offering digital training open to all. A third place has been added to the campus offering orientation assistance and activities related to the digital field for young audiences.

A sustainable logistics solution specializing in the delivery of parcels by cargo bike on behalf of SEGRO France and managed by URB-IT has also set up its headquarters and main warehouse there. An ideal location that allows it to cover a large area in the Paris region.

• A range of leisure activities and services: A 230-bed youth hostel and a 3.500 m² sports multiplex including a 450 m² climbing area (blocks), a fitness and fitness area (group class room, biking room, etc.), a racket center (5 squash courts, 2 padel-tennis courts and 3 badminton courts) and 61 rooms for 2, 4 or 6 people (230 beds in total) owned by an SCI managed by Swiss Life Asset Managers France for the Ircantec account, the ANRU co-investment fund and the UCPA and operated by the latter. This new establishment of the association offers young people, from here and elsewhere, an innovative offer of accessible accommodation and a multi-sports experience open to all which creates the meeting and animates the district.

For Fabrice LOMBARDO – Head of real estate: "Swiss Life Asset Managers France is delighted to invest on behalf of Ircantec, alongside the ANRU and the UCPA in this project which makes it possible to offer quality housing at affordable rents and which is committed to a responsible ecological and climate transition. »

Six shops on behalf of CODIF Développement complete the leisure and service offer, including a restaurant.

For Guillaume Légaut, Director General of the UCPA: “New urban destinations like the UCPA Sport Station I Hostel Paris are a strategic focus for the UCPA. They promote the practice of sport on a daily basis, offer a plural offer intended for a varied public and create the melting pot around sport which is at the heart of the association's missions. »

A green island: biodiversity is omnipresent in the neighborhood with nearly half a hectare of public garden, 1.500 m² of bio-solar green roofs, shared vegetable gardens, planted terraces and around thirty fruit trees. The maintenance and enhancement of biodiversity are favored by the installation of insect hotels and a dry stone wall specifically designed for lizards.

An environmental ambition

From design to construction, then to operation, the entire Îlot Fertile project has been designed to limit its carbon footprint as much as possible.

Particular attention has been paid to the choice of materials and waste management. The facades are thus made of load-bearing freestone (10.000 m²), mostly extracted in Ile-de-France (nearly 85%).

In addition, 6.000 m² of raised floors were reused and reconditioned to equip the offices.

Circular economy actions were implemented during the structural work by Bouygues Bâtiment Ile-de-France teams in order to reuse waste produced by the site (such as earth and rubble) on other sites in the Ile-de-France region.

The entire Îlot Fertile is made up of bioclimatic buildings that limit energy needs for heating, cooling and lighting as much as possible. The production of green energy is carried out via bio-solar roofs which produce electricity thanks to photovoltaic panels. The thermal inertia of buildings contributes to reducing the energy impact of the district. The set is equipped with an innovative system for recovering heat from waste water.

The entire project gives pride of place to nature in the city with a landscaped area, gardens planted in the ground, furnished terraces which are embellished with fruit trees and vegetable gardens designed by OLM landscape architects and urban planners. In total, the district has 3.800 m² of green space.

The district as a whole has obtained several environmental labels, including HQE Excellent and Breeam Excellent certifications for offices, as well as the Bepos+ effinergie 2017 and BiodiverCity® labels.

For TVK, architect and urban planner of Îlot Fertile: “A landlocked plot against the railway infrastructure, the fertile block represented an opportunity to install new urban continuities. Our first intuition was to place a new public space at the heart of the project, which takes the form of a large garden open to the city. It helps to better connect existing neighborhoods to Rosa Parks station. Around this garden in the ground, the large ground floors unfold on two levels and reconstitute a new inhabited topography. The current life within the block attests to the relevance of combining multiple programs in constrained situations: housing, offices, hotel, sports equipment, shops and urban logistics ensure permanent animation. Finally, the project demonstrates that it is possible to build in massive load-bearing stone on a large scale and to drastically reduce our carbon footprint. »

A social commitment

Committed strongly from the call for projects stage, the Rosa Lab, supported by the association Dédale, supports the transformations of the district and stimulates a dynamic of animation in connection with all the actors present on the site and nearby.

A true generator of exchanges and social innovations, the Rosa Lab brings together researchers, students, professionals and residents of the site on sustainable development and urban ecology projects.

Prefigured since 2015 on Îlot Fertile through consultation and activation actions with residents and local actors, the Rosa Lab brings together:

• A space for coworking and support for young Parisian entrepreneurs on the theme of the creative and sustainable city;
• An open-air experimentation space to test in situ in vivo solutions for ecological transition (living lab);
• A place to support territorial dynamics and urban projects on the scale of Paris Nord Est - Saint-Denis - Aubervilliers;
• A place of animation of the territory with a cultural program, services and events;
• A factory of territorial projects that brings together the actors of the city, the companies and the inhabitants and structures a network of resource places.

For Le Rosa Lab by Dédale: “The Rosa Lab is both the facilitator of Ilot Fertile, a cultural third place and a living lab dedicated to ecological transition. We imagined it as a place that creates links to support the emergence of new uses on the scale of a district that demonstrates new ways of making the city. Designed for and with the inhabitants and the actors of the territory, it will develop an artistic program around new urban cultures and will transform the North East of Paris into a showcase in an open-air testing ground for new solutions for the city of tomorrow.

The Rosa Lab registers the activities of the district in coherence with the municipal innovation policies, it works in particular in synergy with the Territory zero long-term unemployed experiment, the eco-manager of the district - accelerator of the local ecological transition and the “Circular district” territorial ecology approach.

These activities are supported by 3 cross-cutting thematic programs: Citytelling (telling the city through digital); Playgreen (nature in the city, urban agriculture and sustainable development); Emergences (culture and art in the city).

Funded by the Île-de-France region, the Rosa Lab is a "living lab" labeled ENOLL (European Network of Living Labs).

“See you in 10 years”:

For 10 years, the Association Syndicale Libre formed by all the owners, will monitor the life of the district and testify to the City of Paris of the respect by all the stakeholders of their commitments in terms of social integration and of sustainable development.

To promote and install new habits among users, 3 actions have been implemented:

• The encouragement to subscribe to green electricity contracts in order to guarantee that the district will be well supplied by renewable energies and to encourage the development of the green sector in France;
• Raising awareness among individuals who live in the accommodation through an activity program in partnership with local players & WWF France;
• Carrying out biodiversity monitoring for 10 years via an ecological monitoring contract with Caisse des Dépôts Biodiversité.

The actors of the project

• Client: Linkcity
• Initiator Reinventing Paris: City of Paris
• Investors: ANRU co-investment funds, DWS, H2I, ICF Habitat La Sablière, Ircantec, SEGRO France, STAM Europe, Swiss Life Asset Managers France, RIVP and UCPA.
• Social landlord: ICF Habitat La Sablière
• Operators: UCPA (Sports Center and Youth Hostel), PARME and ARPEJ Association (social & student residence), OKKO HOTELS, Groupe Dédale, La Passerelle, Urb'it
• Innovative partners: Groupe Dédale, Embix and Solaronics
• Project management: TVK (Architect and MOE coordination), OLM (Landscaping), Elan (AMO BiodiverCity®), Berim (Fluids BET), AMOES (AMO Environment), VP&GREEN (Façade BET), Builders&Partners and BMF Conseil (MOE execution ), CUBE2 (BET VRD), QUADRIFIORE (Interior decoration of offices and hotels with LAUNE ARCHITECTURE), Impédance (Acoustician), Jardin de Jade (Biosolar roof), CDC Biodiversité (Monitoring of biodiversity), TAUW (BET pollution), SADEL ( BET asbestos removal), AXYAL (BET kitchen), ACCEO (BET Elevator), Bouygues Bâtiment Ile-de-France - Habitat Résidentiel (BET Thermal and acoustic) and ROCSOL (BET geotechnical)
• Consultation partners: La Gonflée, Agence Dédale, WWF and Vergers Urbains
• Control offices, SSI and SPS: Qualiconsult, SASTEC and Bureau Veritas
• General contractor: Bouygues Building Ile-de-France