From urban development plan to public space design in Antonypole: A new urban ecology

Landscape as a tool for urban transformation

In an enclave in the south of the municipality of Antony, a 49-hectare former commercial area is transforming into a mixed-use and sustainable neighborhood. As power lines are buried and the Grand Paris Express is set to serve the area with the Antonypole – Wissous metro line 18 station, this new Antonypole neighborhood looks to become a gateway into the Île-de-France region.

Rows of trees crisscross significant swaths of the neighborhood, but their design isn’t legible. Our project preserves and expands this existing tree layer, while adding lush understory and groundcover layers of grassy lawns and flowering meadows. This new green network spurs the ongoing urban transformation and connects the area’s new public spaces. Our design approach draws inspiration from landscape features like the nearby Parc de Sceaux park or the vast parks of Renaissance villas. The project comprises a mix of uniform plantings growing throughout the network of public spaces, alongside free-form urban forests newly planted in open spaces of squares, plazas, and private courtyards.

The Antonypole project is part of current wider efforts to rewild Greater Paris, in particular using urban forests. These crucial sources of biodiversity play countless important roles in ecosystems. Urban forests create cool islands, regulate water, serve as carbon sinks, act as pollution barriers, offer spaces for play and wellbeing, and more. In Antonypole, planting composition comprises local and rustic species (oak, small-leaved linden, field maple, beech, yew, etc.).

Reconfiguring the width of area streets restores continuity for fertile and permeable surfaces. The resulting expanded soil network supports the growing layers of greenery – those high ecological quality spaces that connect the entire neighborhood.

Rooftops, designed as fifth facades, are greened with vegetation and equipped with rainwater harvesting systems.