An Urban Farm at the Heart of Renewal

Delivered in March 2021, the Cité Maraîchère in Romainville is much more than a municipal facility for urban agriculture and sustainable food: it embodies a place of agronomic, social, architectural, and technical innovation.
Located in the Marcel Cachin neighborhood—formerly a large housing complex undergoing redevelopment under the first ANRU program—it connects traditional market gardening practices with a contemporary urban agricultural model, within a context of urban transformation and affirmed ecological transition.
Facing the challenges of global warming, land pressure, and food security, the project proposes a low-carbon local production tool capable of meeting both today’s and tomorrow’s needs.

A Political and Ecological Ambition

Led by the municipality under the initiative of Corinne Valls, mayor and project originator, the Cité Maraîchère reflects a strong commitment to:
– promoting short supply chains,
– creating local jobs,
– raising awareness about sustainable food,
– developing the social and solidarity economy,
– promoting responsible resource management.
As early as 2013, the revision of the local urban plan (PLU) allowing agricultural constructions throughout the municipal territory paved the way for this pioneering project. The new municipal team now embeds this dynamic within the framework of the Agency for Ecological and Social Transition (ACTES).

A Productive, Simple, and Site-Adapted Architecture

The uniform composition of the façades expresses the building’s agricultural vocation: natural light input, thermal management, rainwater harvesting, etc. The whole functions as a controlled bioclimatic environment combining natural ventilation, passive lighting, and a high-performance thermal envelope.
The façades are clad with insulating panels made of bio-sourced cork, and the technical systems utilize circular resources: wood boiler, rainwater recovery and reuse for irrigation, etc.
The architecture adopts a rational, capable, and flexible logic, inspired as much by horticultural greenhouses as by industrial buildings, serving agricultural efficiency.

A Tool-Building Serving Local Production

The Cité Maraîchère is organized into two 7-meter-wide wings:
– to the west, a greenhouse of R+3 (36 m long, 15 m ridge height),
– to the east, a greenhouse of R+6 (21 m long, 24 m ridge height).
The ground floor, open to the public, houses:
– a direct sales area,
– a pedagogical greenhouse,
– workshops and events (seminars, markets, open days…),
– a mezzanine offering a view of the crops.
Outside, a teaching garden extends from the west greenhouse. At the rear, a space is dedicated to delivery and handling.

An Optimized Logistic System

The upper levels are entirely dedicated to soilless vegetable production, in bins, based on concrete platforms called “capable”:
– service aisles,
– cultivation zones,
– secondary galleries with natural light,
– connection walkways every 15 m to reduce travel time.
Each level is arranged according to a precise grid:
– one row of bins on the floor,
– one row of suspended bins on the façade,
– a central 80 cm-wide passage,
– one row of bins along the central fissure.
A vertical fissure runs through the entire height of the building, bringing light, ventilation, and clarity to circulation.
The basement houses specific production (mushrooms, endives, sprouted seeds…), as well as storage, packaging areas, cold rooms, washing stations, and laboratories.

A Project Serving the Neighborhood and Its Inhabitants

Closely linked to the local population, the Cité Maraîchère is conceived as a place of exchange, transmission, and awareness-raising. It actively participates in neighborhood life, fosters encounters among residents, and supports local associative dynamics.

A Clear, Functional, and Urban Architecture

With its simple and technical expression, the Cité Maraîchère clearly asserts its productive vocation while fitting harmoniously into the surrounding urban fabric. Designed as an agricultural tool within the city, it combines constructive rigor, usage flexibility, and environmental quality.
Located in a transforming neighborhood, it reveals a new way of inhabiting urban soil: more resilient, virtuous, and shared. At the crossroads of architecture, agronomy, and public action, it constitutes a concrete prototype of living equipment, serving a more sustainable and supportive city.