Porte de la Chapelle: Arcadis offers a charming urban space

After 3 years of design and work supervision led by Arcadis, this major axis of entry into Paris, in its renewed form, will be the starting point for the Olympic torch relay on July 15. Cyclists and pedestrians, urban continuity and greening are at the heart of this vast and ambitious urban renewal project.

Arcadis, www.arcadis.com, an international engineering and consulting firm, is pleased to announce the delivery of the redevelopment project of Porte de la Chapelle, a completely transformed urban space in preparation for the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris. As agent of the project management group, Arcadis was responsible for the City of Paris in piloting the rehabilitation project of this Parisian area in the 18th arrondissement, which extends from Boulevard Naye to the outskirts of Saint-Denis, between the adidas Arena and the future Campus Condorcet.

This large-scale operation, which aims to reclassify public spaces and reduce car use by promoting active mobility, mobilized Arcadis' multidisciplinary teams: project management, technical studies (drainage, networks, roads and covers, public lighting, three-color traffic lights, vertical and horizontal signals) and regulations (water law), works contract management, scheduling, management, and site coordination. “Our mission was to bring more nature, comfort and connectivity to this very degraded area marked by the dominance of road infrastructure. The aim was to improve the quality of the landscape in public spaces, highlight existing works of art and create a continuity for pedestrians and bicycles between Paris and Saint-Denis.” “We are delighted to be working with Arcadis,” says Michael Beck, project manager at Arcadis.

With over 1,200 square meters of planted space, over 180 trees planted and rainwater harvesting basins created, the project was designed to improve the neighborhood’s resilience to climate risks. To achieve this, Arcadis teams had to deal with the presence of multiple underground networks (sewerage, electricity, telecommunications, fiber, gas, metro), which made the process of reforesting sidewalks and clearing roads particularly complex.

In total, 7,000 square metres of public space have been created or upgraded to give priority to pedestrian and bicycle traffic, representing a 51% increase in pedestrian area and more than an additional kilometre of cycle paths.

The last major fact: during part of the night, users will be able to rediscover the area by contemplating the works of ten artists, displayed on the existing piles of works, a first of its kind in Paris. Never before in the capital has the road infrastructure been highlighted thanks to these light effects.

Céline Richet-Martin, Head of Operations at the City of Paris’ Roads and Travel Department, said: “Our promise to make the Porte de la Chapelle the most beautiful entrance to the capital and the new Parisian Champs-Élysées is now a reality. With the development of a 4-metre-wide two-way bike path, new 23-metre-wide parks on the rue de la Chapelle and largely green public spaces, this is a new high-quality living environment for local residents who see today. Not to mention the Condorcet campus which will welcome 3,500 students at the start of the 2025 school year. We congratulate the Arcadis teams, their partners and the companies for their precision and mastery of the project, which has enabled the completion of the work for the Olympic Games.”

The renovation project of the public spaces of the Porte de la Chapelle, with a total budget of 50 million euros, is part of a larger development that includes new housing, green spaces, university facilities and an arena that will host several Olympic and Paralympic events during the Paris 2024 Games.

“Our intervention at Porte de la Chapelle is part of a broader strategy to make Boulevard Périphérique a real green belt to reduce emissions and rethink urban space, like other climate resilience projects implemented by Arcadis in the world such as the Lower Manhattan Project. An expertise in transforming infrastructures that we have been able to develop over 20 years on most of the gates of Paris, through projects such as the roof of the Porte de Vanves, the development of the Porte de Vincennes and all the associated repercussions. The perimeter has become, » Nicolas Bovey, Development Director at Arcadis, concludes.

The members of the project management team are:
• Arcadis: Project Manager (Agent)
• Richez_Associés: Architect – Urban Planner
• Concept: Lighting Designer
• Emma Blanc Paysage: Landscape Design
• Frank Botti Workshop: Environmental Engineering

About Arcadis
Arcadis is the world’s leading engineering and consulting company in the fields of urban planning, real estate, mobility and the environment. With our human-centric solutions, we help our clients reinvent the places where we live and work, creating mobility solutions for people and goods, and optimizing natural resources, while protecting our planet. We are 36,000 Arcadians in more than 70 countries with a turnover of €5 billion. www.arcadis.com