Living in Île de Nantes, Nantes

Île de Nantes is the most-talked-about urban project in western France over the last twenty years. The island - five kilometres long, between two arms of the Loire south of the historic centre - was the city's main shipbuilding zone from the nineteenth century until the Chantiers Dubigeon yards closed in 1987. What followed has been one of the largest urban-renewal programmes in France: the Île de Nantes Aménagement public agency has redeveloped the western half (the Quartier de la Création) with the Machines de l'Île, the École nationale supérieure d'architecture, the Palais de Justice and dozens of new residential and office blocks. The eastern half remains a working-class residential zone, and the central part is the active reconversion of the former shipbuilding site.

History and identity

Until 1860 there was no single Île de Nantes - there were several smaller islands between the arms of the Loire, each with its own character. They were consolidated and reshaped during the nineteenth century to support industrial shipbuilding. From the early twentieth century the Chantiers Dubigeon - a Nantes shipbuilding firm founded in 1760 - expanded onto the island's Prairie-au-Duc, building everything from steamships to military vessels. The yards closed in 1987 and the island sat largely abandoned for fifteen years. The redevelopment plan - drawn up by the architects Alexandre Chemetoff and then Marcel Smets - preserves significant industrial heritage: the former Halles Alstom now house the École des Beaux-Arts and a digital-and-creative cluster, the Nefs Dubigeon host the Carrousel des Mondes Marins by the Machines de l'Île, and two giant shipyard cranes (the Grue Titan jaune and the Grue Titan grise) still stand as monumental sculptures.

What to expect

Mixed and changing. The western Quartier de la Création is the public face: the Machines de l'Île (the mechanical Grand Éléphant, the Carrousel des Mondes Marins, the Galerie des Machines), the Hangar à Bananes with its bars and restaurants, the Île de Nantes tram axis and the new residential blocks with their architecturally adventurous facades. The eastern quartier (Beaulieu) remains more residential and modest, with social housing blocks from the 1970s mixed with new development. The middle is a long construction site that won't finish for another decade. Residents are a mix of long-tenure working-class families in the older Beaulieu blocks, creative-industry and tech professionals in the new western developments, students from the École d'architecture and Audencia, and young flat-sharers attracted by relatively recent buildings.

Transport

Strong and improving. Tram lines T2 and T3 cross the island north-south via the boulevard des Martyrs-Nantais-de-la-Résistance, with stops at Vincent Gâche, Wattignies, Mangin and Pirmil. The Busway line 5 runs the length of the island east-west between the Gare SNCF Sud and the Hangar à Bananes. From Vincent Gâche it's a few minutes to Commerce, around ten to Gare SNCF. Walking and cycling along the quais are pleasant - the riverside has been redesigned with wide promenades and protected cycle paths. The Pont Anne-de-Bretagne and the Pont Victor-Schoelcher connect to the historic centre on the north bank in five minutes on foot. Driving is straightforward - wide streets, available parking in the new developments - though the western tip becomes congested on weekends with Machines visitors.

What to do

The Machines de l'Île are the obvious anchor - the Grand Éléphant walking circuits, the Carrousel des Mondes Marins, the Galerie des Machines workshops. The Hangar à Bananes nightlife strip on the western quay has clubs, bars and restaurants with terraces over the Loire. The Mémorial de l'abolition de l'esclavage is on the northern bank a short walk over the Pont Anne-de-Bretagne. The Jardin extraordinaire - a lush garden laid out in the former Carrière de Miséry quarry - sits across the river to the west. The Île de Nantes itself has the Parc des Chantiers along the former shipyard slipways, the École d'architecture with regular public events, the Mediacampus arts and media school, and a growing constellation of cafés and small restaurants in the new developments.

Best fit for

Creative-industry, tech and architecture professionals working in the Quartier de la Création, students at Audencia, Centrale or the École d'architecture, and arrivals who want modern apartments with good light and amenities in walking distance of the centre. The Île has the city's most coherent new architecture and the strongest concentration of cultural anchors outside the historic centre. Less suited to people wanting a settled established neighbourhood feel - the western half is new-built and planned rather than layered - or those seeking the medieval character of Bouffay.