Bellecroix neighbourhoodMetz (57)

On a promontory overlooking the Seille and Moselle valleys, the Bellecroix neighbourhood grew up around an old fort, now hidden beneath the trees. The masterplan turns it into a great inhabited park, linked to the network of Metz landscapes — Mont Saint-Quentin, the lake, the other forts — by a circuit of walks, gateways and viewpoints that reopen views over the city and its cathedral.

The site reads as four landscapes, crossed by a continuous promenade. The terraces, facing the city, offer a view over the whole metropolitan area and host festivals and events beneath the groves. The inhabited park stretches between the bastions and the housing, like an English-style park: large lawns beneath tall trees that extend the fort's forest, picnic tables, play areas and sports grounds whose fences are covered with climbers. The urban plateau is organised into wooded malls and squares that keep the neighbourhood cool.

On the fort itself, interventions remain light. In the balcony forest, paths open onto clearings and a large shaded platform looks out over the city; people come to pick lily of the valley, mushrooms and fruit. The moat becomes a great meadow under gentle management, where sheep may graze and children discover wildlife and plants. The bastions, finally, become protected botanical islands.