Emag La Défense Seine Arche - Issue#5 / July 2011 - (Page 2)

« « /2 Editorial Philippe Chaix Managing director of Epadesa “reconciling contradictions in a consistent harmonious territory project” Joëlle CeccaldiRaynaud Chairman of the Board of Epadesa “Foreseeing the future with confidence and equanimity” in the Hoche eco-district. These programs primarily concern housing, some of them will be social housing. All these projects make up a comprehensive plan for complete urban reconstruction. The Terrasses de Nanterre will be the backbone, allowing for better connections among neighborhoods and restoring the link between Paris and the Seine river. This new urban development is in keeping with our goal to generate sustainable development. EPADESA is also in the process of obtaining Agenda 21 and ISO 14001certification, the reference in terms of environmental management. Editions First has also just published another book in their famous “For Dummies” collection, “La Défense Pour Les Nuls” (La Défense for Dummies), which shows the current interest in and fascination for La Défense. Written by the geographer and urban planner JeanPierre Courtiau, “La Défense for Dummies” offers the public a guided tour of the leading European business sector whose history is so rich, but so far from complete. La Défense is everything and its opposite all at once. While La Défense conjures the image of a business district, Seine Arche is an area of urban reconstruction. It is up to us to reconcile the contradictions of the 21st century with a consistent and harmonious territorial project in the service of its inhabitants, its employees, its students and its entrepreneurs. To this end, EPADESA teams strive to take into account everyone’s daily life and improve urban quality with elegant architecture, the development of harmonious public spaces and a varied offer of services including, most notably, the Arena project in Nanterre. Yet this endeavour demands a great amount of time, research, consultation, decision-making, and construction. Construction is underway in La Défense with the implementation of the Renewal Plan, as seen with Seine Arche and the continuation of the Terrasses project. Communication and consultation are bolstered by a long list of tools: construction update reports, public conferences, committees tracking the progress of construction, the “observers of construction sites” network, the Saturday meetings… Soon, there will also be a website devoted to providing information about construction undertaken by numerous partners such as RATP and SNCF, the local council, investors and developers, and EPADESA and Defacto, all involved in this project of national interest. On the other hand, we must do more to involve inhabitants and users in the design of public spaces in order to enrich the project with their own experience. We plan to organize meetings to present the projects, as well as workshops in close cooperation with the cities and the project and building teams concerned. We understand that our construction of buildings, skyscrapers, and public spaces create inconveniences despite all the efforts made by EPADESA and the project manager. Hence, EPADESA will ensure strict adherence to the low-nuisance construction standards it has conceived. EPADESA, its Board of Directors and the cities of Courbevoie, La Garenne-Colombes, Nanterre and Puteaux are all convinced that once this National Interest Operation is better known, it will gain recognition and be recognized and appreciated, visited by locals and tourists alike. It will continue to attract inhabitants, merchants and shaps that are vital to the area, and it will become one of the more indispensible places in Europe. Today we must develop standards for sustainable development and new technologies, create overall development for all -from the pedestrian to the cyclist, improve transportation, develop diversified economic prospects from big businesses to the small ones; in a word, create a city for everyone. Each will have a role for the benefit of all, so that, to quote Jean Poulit, “… the city can be a place of sharing, of labor, of knowledge and of entertainment.” EPADESA’s Board of Directors meeting on June 10th resulted in important new advances and numerous projects. The accounts for the 2010 financial year of EPADESA, EPAD and EPASA were approved, thus confirming the financial robustness of our organization. Our 2010 assets of over 5 million euros give us the ability to calmly and confidently face the future. We have signed the preliminary sales agreement for building rights for the Phare Tower, granted to CNIT Développement, a wholly owned unit of Unibail-Rodamco. We have just reached a new stage in this project which will lead to the construction of the largest office building in France, over 300 meters tall, in 2016. At the end of May we also signed the deed with SOGECAP to the future Tour D2. After the laying of the first stone of the Carpe Diem Tower in March and the inauguration of the First Tower in May, the execution of the plans for La Défense are progressing at a fast pace. The Seine Arche area at Nanterre has also seen significant advances recently. The sales agreement with the Altaréa-Eiffage group was also signed. The agreement was for the land for the first phase of Cœur de Quartier project; these lots are part of the zone around the NanterreUniversité multimodal train station which is under complete renovation. Conceived by the architect Jean-Paul Viguier, this first phase will develop 23,000 m² of offices, 19,000 m² of housing and 5,000 m² of shops. Two other sales have also been signed: one with SCI Arc Promotion for Terrasse 10 and the other with the promoter Philia for land situated

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Emag La Défense Seine Arche - Issue#5 / July 2011

Cover
Editorial
Contents
News / Epadesa
News / Public Transportation
News / La Défense towers and buildings
News / Seine Arche buildings and public areas
News / La Garenne-Colombes, public inquiries, exhibition
Close up on construction / Site info
Close up on construction / Work in progress
Close up on construction / Work in progress and recently completed
Subject / The economic model of La Défense
Subject / A La Défense glossary
Publications

Emag La Défense Seine Arche - Issue#5 / July 2011