Parc Gustave & Léonard Hentsch

Type

Espaces publics

Date de réalisation

2015

Ingénieur civil

Sabert SA

Maître de l'ouvrage

Pic-Pic Promotion SA

Autre(s) intervenant(s)

RDR Architectes

Surface brute

38'000 m2

Coût

15'000'000

Procédure

concours

Architecte

HUSLER & ASSOCIES

Interview de l'architecte

Descriptif

Over the traces of the former Charmilles stadium, Hentsch Park lies in the heart of an urban area whose four sides are very different in nature: railway tracks, a recent residential building, a main road and a former factory – the Tavaro works which has been converted into an events and cultural venue, the Espace Hippomène. From the arena of an already distant era, the noisy setting of some hotly contested football matches, the project has retained the idea of a green oasis in the city. No longer a close cut rectangular grass pitch, but an open, very slightly hilly field where children play. Only the statues by the artist Nicola Zaric evoke a past imprinted with studded boots and leather balls. Landscape designers were able to seize the opportunity for a fairly minimal intervention while opting for an “organic” character that suits the recreational function of this new leisure area. The use of concrete on the ground – in the form of large slabs – gives the site a coherence allowing programmed features to be distributed more freely all along the boundary path: a great place for games of all kinds, a service pavilion, terraces with water features, etc. Two artificial mounds have been created on the short sides of the park as protection against the constant sound of urban traffic and passing trains. The project continues to the south-west in the direction of the city, into the heart of a more residential area.