Leclerc La Roche Sud La Roche-sur-Yon (85)

In 2023, the Leclerc Roche Sud shopping center launched a comprehensive review aimed at upgrading its indoor parking and, more broadly, rethinking its outdoor spaces.  Alongside the architecture agency Brunerie, Atelier Paul Arène has brought its landscape expertise to design a global project around three axes:

- rethink the way customers, especially pedestrians, are welcomed;

- implement an appropriate greening strategy to combat urban heat islands;

- Strengthen the identity of the site and the brand, affirming its territorial anchorage south of the urban area of La Roche-sur-Yon.

Thus, a new green promenade has replaced the old entrance threshold, once 90% mineralized, narrow and unwelcoming. Thanks to the joint work with the architect and the creation of a new roof on the covered parking lot, the forecourt has regained generous proportions, open-plan, bright and attractive. 

This ribbon of greenery now runs along the front of the store and extends to the links with the city.  Wide reception staircases, open to the public space at bus stops and bike lanes, give back their place to pedestrians and gentle modes. 

The parking lot has been transformed into a veritable green setting, composed of various strata and species, with more than 220 trees planted. The site entrances were marked by corten expanded metal structures, creating new strong visual cues. 

The signature landscape was also declined through spaces dedicated to employees, kiosks installed on the promenade to awaken the curiosity of the public, and soon, a graphic and playful work on the ground will come to animate the space of the forecourt.