Former sports stadium to become landscaped gardens, housing, and shops

Maison Edouard François and ABC Architectes recently won a competition created to determine what the former Ray Stadium in Nice, France would become. The firms’ winning requalification design will comprise housing, landscaped gardens, shops, sports facilities, and parking, ArchDaily reports.

According to Maison Edouard François, the design is meant to mimic the white stone and dense vegetation of the Niçois landscape by recreating the form of a “green hill,” combining vegetation with stone and wood found in the local architecture.

The project aims to act as a bridge between the natural and the urban, not just in its use of vegetation with stone and wood, but also by its location, nestled between the constructions of Boulevard Gorbella and a neighboring park.

The park will become part of the project, entering into the city block and covering the facades and rooftops of the buildings. The facades will also incorporate climbing, flowering plants and the roofs will also be entirely planted.

On the opposite, more urban side, of the project, the structures will be integrated into the city block to look as if it has been constructed over time in an effort to avoid looking out of place.

The memory of Ray Stadium will also be maintained. “Great sporting figures and the striking events of its history could be the subject of artists’ interventions – images, sculptures or installations,” architects from Maison Edouard François say in a press release.

The winning design from Maison Edouard François and ABC Architectes beat designs from competing firms such as Herzog & de Meuron and Rudy Riciotti.