The project proposed by the team led by Bas Smets, which plans to start work in the second half of 2024 and will be completed in 2027, has been submitted at a cost of €50 million.
Among the planned changes is an increase in vegetation by more than 30 per cent and the rehabilitation of the old car park with the creation of a new promenade area and underground reception area that opens onto the Seine River.
The mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, who has put an emphasis on increasing green spaces in the city centre, explained that more than 100 new trees will be planted around the iconic Notre-Dame cathedral, giving tourists a small oasis. during the summer.
The new Notre-Dame Paris garden by Bas Smets. Image by Studio Alma / Groupement BBS
There will also be a 5m horizontal fountain running down the esplanade on hot days, which Smets says will reduce surface temperatures by up to 10 degrees Celsius.
Rainwater, captured and stored underground, will be used.
The space behind the cathedral will also be intervened, which is currently divided by hedges and gates, becoming a large open garden, which will improve the view of the building's stained glass windows and buttresses.
The back of the church will feature a larger grass area with trees along the edge of the Seine river. Image by Studio Alma / Groupement BBS.
The new Notre-Dame Paris garden by Bas Smets. Image by Studio Alma / Groupement BBS
The Bas Smets team was also behind the Parc des Ateliers autour de la tour Luma in Arles, in the south of France, and has been chosen to redesign the city centre of Brussels.
The remodelling is a complementary project to the one being carried out for the reconstruction of the cathedral. This vast project aims to bring Parisians to the cradle of Paris and welcome many visitors (12 million each year!)) in better conditions. It had been the subject of a deliberation voted on April 15, 2021, in the Paris Council, two years after the terrible fire devastated the building.
Among the planned changes is an increase in vegetation by more than 30 per cent and the rehabilitation of the old car park with the creation of a new promenade area and underground reception area that opens onto the Seine River.
"The project rethinks the emblematic public spaces around Notre Dame as a sequence of climatic atmospheres. The parvis becomes a clearing surrounded by trees, the square behind the Catedral is enlarged towards the tip of the island, and a large new park is created along the Seine. Compressed and imbricated around the Cathedral, these spaces frame new views of Notre Dame, establish a new relationship with the Seine and offer new activities. The lle de la Cité becomes the epicentre of Paris once again."
Bas Smets
The mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, who has put an emphasis on increasing green spaces in the city centre, explained that more than 100 new trees will be planted around the iconic Notre-Dame cathedral, giving tourists a small oasis. during the summer.
The new Notre-Dame Paris garden by Bas Smets. Image by Studio Alma / Groupement BBS
There will also be a 5m horizontal fountain running down the esplanade on hot days, which Smets says will reduce surface temperatures by up to 10 degrees Celsius.
Rainwater, captured and stored underground, will be used.
The space behind the cathedral will also be intervened, which is currently divided by hedges and gates, becoming a large open garden, which will improve the view of the building's stained glass windows and buttresses.
The back of the church will feature a larger grass area with trees along the edge of the Seine river. Image by Studio Alma / Groupement BBS.
Partial reopening in 2024
Beneath the esplanade, the parking lot will be transformed into a large reception area with a walkway that will allow visitors to access the archaeological crypt and the Seine River.
The other side of the cathedral will be flanked by a pedestrian street, with benches and trees.
The first part of the exterior works is expected to be completed in time for the cathedral's reopening in 2024, while the rest of the modifications will be completed in 2027.
Paris is in the race to meet the Olympics deadline three years after the Notre-Dame fire.
Beneath the esplanade, the parking lot will be transformed into a large reception area with a walkway that will allow visitors to access the archaeological crypt and the Seine River.
The other side of the cathedral will be flanked by a pedestrian street, with benches and trees.
The first part of the exterior works is expected to be completed in time for the cathedral's reopening in 2024, while the rest of the modifications will be completed in 2027.
Paris is in the race to meet the Olympics deadline three years after the Notre-Dame fire.
The new Notre-Dame Paris garden by Bas Smets. Image by Studio Alma / Groupement BBS
The Bas Smets team was also behind the Parc des Ateliers autour de la tour Luma in Arles, in the south of France, and has been chosen to redesign the city centre of Brussels.
The remodelling is a complementary project to the one being carried out for the reconstruction of the cathedral. This vast project aims to bring Parisians to the cradle of Paris and welcome many visitors (12 million each year!)) in better conditions. It had been the subject of a deliberation voted on April 15, 2021, in the Paris Council, two years after the terrible fire devastated the building.
