Buil­ding bridges

The Petit-Quevilly Sports Complex is trans­forming a former indus­trial site south of Rouen into an open sports and land­scape archi­tec­ture. With a 365-metre-long prome­nade, versa­tile sports faci­li­ties and a strong urban network, the project not only creates new and contem­po­rary faci­li­ties, it also makes a decisive contri­bu­tion to urban deve­lo­p­ment.

The Petit-Quevilly Sports Complex is a fine example of contem­po­rary sports infra­struc­ture and sustainable urban deve­lo­p­ment in France. The project trans­forms a former indus­trial site in the south of the Rouen metro­po­litan region into a three-hectare public sports and land­scape park. Today, the Petit-Quevilly Sports Complex combines sport, leisure, nature and urban mobi­lity to create an open, multi­func­tional urban space.

The project is part of the National Urban Rege­ne­ra­tion Program (ANRU) and is a response to decades of urban frag­men­ta­tion caused by an expressway and several rail­road lines that cut up the urban fabric of Petit-Quevilly. The new Sports Complex now acts as an urban bracket that recon­nects the historic city center with the eastern districts.

The design was created by Olgga Archi­tectes.

Boule­vard

The central design element of the Petit-Quevilly Sports Complex is the 365-metre-long Belve­dere prome­nade, which runs as a linear spine through the entire site. It runs some­times at ground level, some­times above the site and opens up chan­ging and new perspec­tives on the city, land­scape and sports areas.

This urban prome­nade connects all the uses of the Petit-Quevilly Sports Complex: the sports hall, social faci­li­ties, the leisure and youth center, the skate park and the stadium. At the same time, it brings the complex topo­graphy of the site to life and trans­forms it into a defi­ning spatial element.

Slopes

Where there used to be fences, parking areas and tech­nical barriers, an open, conti­guous park land­scape now unfolds. For the Petit-Quevilly Sports Complex, embank­ments were modeled, meadows and groves of trees were laid out and grassed swales were created to retain rain­water.

Sports and play faci­li­ties are embedded directly into this land­scape: slides follow the natural slopes, a mono­li­thic skate park made of exposed concrete blends sculp­tu­rally into the terrain. In addi­tion, the roof of the sports hall is used as an exer­cise area and accom­mo­dates half a basket­ball court – a clear commit­ment to space effi­ci­ency and the multiple use of urban sports faci­li­ties.

The external impres­sion of the Petit-Quevilly Sports Complex is charac­te­rized by the uniform metal façade. It consists of a metal clad­ding that is encased in a second layer of metal mesh. This modu­lates the daylight and gives the ensemble a mono­li­thic, almost abstract appearance.

Directly adja­cent to the central ramp is a new pede­strian and cycle bridge that spans the expressway and the rail­road lines. It connects the Petit-Quevilly Sports Complex directly with the town hall district and repres­ents an important new axis for ever­yday traffic and urban networ­king.

Today, the Petit-Quevilly Sports Complex is used as an open sports and leisure land­scape that goes far beyond a tradi­tional sports faci­lity. It is a place for exer­cise, encoun­ters and recrea­tion – acces­sible to all gene­ra­tions and forms of use.

A fine example of social and urban networ­king.

Olgga Archi­tectes
32 rue de la Porte Dijeaux
F – 33000 Bordeaux

City of Petit-Quevilly

Opening

2025

Photos

Stephanie Abou­daram | We Are Content(S)
Julien Tragin

Johannes Bühl­be­cker
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