Rue des Bas Heurts

In the heart of Noisy-le-Grand lies a street that whispers tales of resilience and community spirit. It’s Rue des Bas Heurts, a seemingly ordinary street with an extraordinary past. Rue des Bas Heurts, once slated for demolition, stands as a testament to the power of collective action. In 2004, the local government proposed a plan to erase the neighborhood’s 75 houses and replace them with 1,500 apartment units. The residents of Rue des Bas Heurts refused to be erased. They formed an association, ADIHBH-V, to fight for their homes and their way of life. They collaborated with architecture students, who helped them articulate their concerns to the Public Inquiry Commission. In a stunning victory, the commission delivered a unanimous unfavorable opinion on the demolition project in 2007. The courts upheld this decision, putting a halt to the government’s plans. Rue des Bas Heurts, however, was not out of the woods yet. A new project emerged in 2014, echoing some of the earlier student proposals but still failing to respect the existing homes and residents. The ADIHBH-V persisted, enlisting the help of the innovative architecture firm ASPHALT. They advocated for a more reasonable approach, one that preserved the existing houses and capped new construction at 900 units. The fight for Rue des Bas Heurts became a key issue in the 2014 municipal elections. The newly elected mayor, Brigitte Marsigny, committed to a more controlled density approach, working with the existing urban fabric. She retained the firm DEVILLERS & ASSOCIES and initiated community consultations to shape the future of Rue des Bas Heurts. These consultations led to a set of specifications that guided the final project design, unveiled in April 2017. After 13 years of struggle, Rue des Bas Heurts had finally secured its future, a future shaped not by top-down dictates, but by the collective will of its residents.