You Could Live in a Striking Former Soccer Stadium

A Parisian design firm will soon be leading the charge on inventive adaptive reuse projects with the rehabilitation of the former soccer stadium Stade du Ray. Built in 1927, the stadium was home to the professional soccer team OGC Nice, but its small size and expensive upkeep forced its closure in 2013. It was announced last month that Parisian design firm Maison Édouard François, in collaboration with ABC Architects, was awarded top prize in a competition to transform the venue into a mixed-use complex distinguished by plant-covered façades.

The new development will house commercial and residential spaces along with sports facilities and an abundance of lushly landscaped parkland. For the structures, the architects at Maison Édouard François took Nice’s naturally hilly surroundings as design inspiration, crafting a series of undulating structures raised to different heights via supporting columns. This essentially leaves the complex's entire grounds available, allowing residents to walk underneath the buildings and access the park directly from the street, making the project not only a rejuvenation for the derelict stadium but also a space for the community’s residents to enjoy. In addition to the landscape, the architects paid homage to the surrounding architecture, employing traditional Niçois materials like white stone and wood used frequently in neighboring villas.

A rendering of the complex's lush grounds.

On the whole, Maison Édouard François’s design will infuse a very urban quarter of Nice with some much-needed greenery, a perk perhaps best described by the firm on its website as “offering the city a new green lung.” The project is scheduled to be finished in 2017.