An Agricultural Tradition at the Heart of the Territory

The Mantois basin, composed of 80% natural spaces, is rooted in a long agricultural tradition. The issue of food has naturally emerged as a defining feature of the project.
Historically, the Seine valley was a thriving area for market gardening and arboriculture, supplying Paris and the court of Versailles until the 18th century. This traditional agriculture gradually gave way to large-scale cereal farming, under the combined influence of land restructuring, the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), and the concentration of distribution networks.
Today, cereal crops represent 95% of agricultural land. The lands formerly used by market gardeners or arboriculturists have been acquired by cereal farmers, intensifying the decline of market gardening, which now accounts for only 5% of the utilized agricultural area (UAA).

A Still Predominantly Rural Area

The Yvelines territory remains composed of 80% agricultural and forest areas (43% agricultural, 37% wooded), compared to only 20% urbanized surface. Rurality thus remains the primary identity of the landscape.
However, local agriculture suffers from a structural imbalance: livestock farming is marginal (mainly poultry, sheep, and veal), and always complementary to cereal farming.

Towards a Revival of Market Gardening

Faced with this situation, the Chamber of Agriculture identifies the partial conversion of large-scale cereal farming as a lever to revitalize market gardening in Île-de-France.
Relocalizing distribution networks is a strategic issue: 92% of market gardeners and arboriculturists already market part of their production through short supply chains (CACG, 2011). This choice allows them to:
-diversify their outlets,
-partially reduce dependence on Rungis,
-align with European sustainable agriculture policies,
-meet consumer expectations: local, organic, fresh, quality products.
The objective is clear: to shift from an export-oriented, low value-added model to a local production that is better remunerated and more resilient.

The Innovaparc Project: Productive Agriculture and Territorial Anchoring

Located in Buchelay, near the A13 motorway and close to the future Eole station (planned for 2024), the Innovaparc project fully embraces this transformation. It aims to:
-locally produce fruits, vegetables, and fish for 25,000 people per year,
-create local jobs,
-supply collective catering through on-site processing,
-energize local markets,
-unite farmers around a structuring project,
-offer training in new agricultural technologies.
This project results from a study initiated by EPAMSA, with the goal of rooting agriculture in short supply chains and local economic dynamics. It is an economic, social, and political project: it gives local elected officials the means to act against deregulation forces driven by purchasing centers.

A Reinvented Business District

The shift from the concept of a business park to a business district calls for a transformation of uses, public spaces, and architectural quality.
The ambition is threefold:
-reduce the impact of cars,
-promote mixed-use and the presence of nature,
-propose a quality industrial architecture that breaks with traditional "black box" buildings.

A Productive and Legible Architecture

We have taken advantage of the inactive roofs of industrial buildings to overlay productive greenhouses. These greenhouses allow:
-soilless agricultural production (fruits, vegetables),
-a strong visual signal from the motorway,
-a pleasant opening towards the landscaped park (gardens, permaculture).
The architectural composition is based on transparent, luminous, and productive volumes, in contrast to the opaque standards of traditional business parks. The whole offers a new visual identity to this forward-looking business district.