A new lease of life for Nanterre's Quartier Sud and the Aillaud towers

In Nanterre, the Quartier Sud is set to undergo a major transformation in two phases. The first will focus on public facilities, the second on the energy retrofit and the change of use of the Tours Aillaud. See also:

• Nanterre-la-Folie station by Architecture-Studio
• The future Théâtre des Amandiers in Nanterre by Snøhetta

A neighbourhood of Nanterre with a very (too) high proportion of social housing

Geographically, the area has much in its favour: it lies next to the La Défense business district and benefits from good transport links. However, the Quartier Sud, home to 13,000 residents, is 94% social housing, which raises the question of social and urban mix. The neighbourhood also reflects the difficulty residents face in finding work, with 25% of its working-age population unemployed.

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In many neighbourhoods, such as Lille Sud, the "biscottes" (the long, slab-like housing blocks) have been pulled down to make way for development at a more human scale. Here, however, a clean slate is out of the question for heritage reasons. The Aillaud towers cannot be demolished. We are no longer in Haussmann's day, when a few buildings could be sacrificed without hesitation to make way for the grands boulevards that have been the pride of Parisians for almost two centuries.

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Phase one: improving the facilities

The first phase of the regeneration project will concentrate on the refurbishment of the Fontenelles shopping centre and the Pablo-Picasso market. The Maxime-Gorki school will be refurbished, while the changing rooms at the Jean-Guimier stadium will be demolished and rebuilt. The demolished buildings will be replaced by homes for sale to owner-occupiers. This phase, costed at €38 million, will be completed in 2021.

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Phase two: a facelift for the Aillaud towers

Like Le Corbusier's Cité Radieuse, the Aillaud towers will be given over in part to shops and business premises. A media library with a theatre and premises for local associations are also part of the programme. On the technical side, the façades of the Aillaud towers have lost almost a quarter of their mosaic tiles, which have fallen to the ground. The refurbishment will aim in particular to improve the towers' thermal comfort. The commission has been awarded to the practice RVA (Renaud & Vignaud Associés), working with the engineering consultancy Franck Boutté Consultants and the graphic designer Pierre Di Sciullo. Work is due to start in autumn 2020.

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While the towers owned by the social landlords will be upgraded with external wall insulation, the others will be insulated from the inside, which raises the question of thermal bridging. Nevertheless, the development led by Altarea Cogedim is aiming for Effinergie's "Patrimoine basse consommation" low-energy heritage label. It includes restoring the concrete walls and façade supports, and repairing the mosaic using, among other things, stone paste. This second batch of towers, developed by Altarea Cogedim, has been designed with Histoire & Patrimoine, the atelier M&Co, Lamt and AIA Life Designers.

A possible new secondary school to be built

The main aim is to bring the neighbourhood back to life and enliven it by boosting the local economy, so as to reduce the proportion of social housing. The target is to bring it down to 71%. In keeping with this approach, the city of Nanterre is looking into the possibility of closing the Évariste-Galois secondary school and building a new one to serve both Puteaux and Nanterre.