How to integrate Rouen's grain silos?

The winners of the ideas competition to define a new landscape integration for the grain silos on the Presqu’île Élie were announced on Friday 15 March. They are Relier Architecture (Paris) with "Silographes" and DNADN (Amsterdam) with "Éole". Their innovative proposals caught the jury's attention for the way they address integration into the urban fabric.

It all began last October…

The Grand Port Maritime de Rouen (GPMR) and the Sénalia group, which operates the silos, are more aware than ever that the western districts of Rouen are undergoing an unprecedented urban transformation (Espace des Marégraphes, the Flaubert eco-district, the Docks-Luciline district, the regeneration project for the Presqu’île Rollet and so on).

Image coming soon

The existing port facilities must therefore find their place in this emerging new landscape. "This economic activity is part of our city's identity!" says Laurent Martel, Managing Director of the Sénalia group. "We are keen to strengthen the pride Rouen's residents take in these facilities by showcasing them…" Out of this challenge came the idea for a competition, the first of its kind, on enhancing the silos, open to architects, urbanists, landscape architects, artists, designers, engineers and others. After several months of work, 18 entries were submitted, from Argentina, the Netherlands and France. The jury included representatives of the City of Rouen and the CREA (Communauté d'agglomération de Rouen).

What happens next?

Sénalia will be the client for this ambitious urban integration of the Rouen silos. The group will now look into the feasibility of the schemes with the winning teams, before moving on to the delivery phase.