Built in the 70s along garden-city lines, this housing estate managed by Cannes's public housing department is undergoing several phases of rehabilitation. This project, part of Phase 2, is about opening the estate up and integrating it into a new neighbourhood. One of the apartment blocks has been demolished in order to create new accesses and public spaces, leaving the stairwell that used to serve three blocks visible. "Scoring" the sides of this adds a vertical dimension to the whole project. The opportunity of completely reconfiguring the entrance to the estate has been seized, with the relief and paths forming the basis of a clearly geometrical redesign. The concept is that of a platform through which pathways have been cut, the platform being flat and planted while the "cuts" are mineral and follow the gradient. The expanses of green thus created balance the contrast between the stone of the new urban centrepiece and the residents' gardens.

Opinion of jury

"A small restructuring project. But however modest it may be, it is extremely well conceived since it solves practical problems, creates connections and makes this a better place to live so its residents will feel happier in their homes than before."