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TOWN-PLANNING FOR LES ABYMES
Nature Urban
Client
Year 1999
Location Guadeloupe, French Caribbean
Site Area
Status
Design Lead Rohit Shinkre
Project Architects Imtiaz Lokhandwala and Alan Abraham
Design and planning proposal for the urban integration of Les Abymes, a fringe suburb of Pointe a Pitre in Guadeloupe (French, West Indies). The design has to illustrate a model for urbanization in Tropical climates.
The proposal looks at density and mixed development issues regarding the program mix and building typologies- high-rise and low-rise. Climate and culturally responsive planning and design. The exterior spaces are an integral part of the space program. The residential structures are low-rise and highly permeable to pedestrian movement. Vehicles are accommodated in a partly sunk basement, thus liberating the ‘ground’ exclusively for pedestrians. Housing is proposed as an evolutive unit offering various occupations, from single-family houses to studio apartments organized around a courtyard. Commercial development is proposed in a high-rise structure that will act as a landmark to which Les Abymes can be associated as seen from the adjacent elevated high-speed ring road. Retail development is on the podium of the high-rise interspaces between the program’s residential and commercial parts. It extends into the open-air bazaar, thus exploiting the relatively gentle climate of the region.
Scope of Services Urban Appraisal. Concept-level Master Planning. Urban Programming. Urban Design. Architectural Design.
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