Secteur Bab Al Bahr : la cité de l’estuaire

Urban development of the Bouregreg Valley, Sequence 1

Urban designPublic spaces
Rabat - Salé Morocco
Carta - Reichen et Robert Associates - Secteur Bab Al Bahr : la cité de l’estuaire

Study for development of the Bouregreg Valley between Rabat and Salé

Located on the estuary, before the Moulay al Hassan Bridge, this project will be the site of parks and gardens and zones for leisure and activities. This development will also benefit from a new tunnel along the Oudayas and the construction of a marina adjacent to a technology and engineering area.
Assistance for the project owners in the construction of the river port, the quays in Rabat and the Place Souk el Ghzel.

The Cité de l'Estuaire (sector 1) creates a direct link with the historic cities and beaches of Rabat and Salé. It is located on the former military sites in Salé in the extension of the small 1930s neighbourhood bordered by the Chari Fez. To the south it ends at the marina.

The new district will become part of the site with all the respect owed to its users and to a perception of the estuary that has been forged over the course of a thousand-year history. The views from the medinas and the Oudayas, life along the river, following the rhythm of the tides, the practices of the ferrymen and the traditional use of the beaches are being preserved in spirit and in form. The restoration of the quays of the port of Rabat and of navigability are also opportunities to return to an ancestral use suited to today's realities.

In this vast 330-hectare territory, approximately 80 hectares are being urbanised to create a resort town designed like an inhabited park. In contact with the marina, a “Cité des Arts et Métiers” (technology and engineering area) complemented by a group of small hotel units will provide needed life to this “between two cities” district.
While the dominant type of programme will be residential, for us multi-use is an absolute need. It is what produces life both by day and at night and what ties together the tourist functions and permanent functions. What we want to create are not bedroom communities (tourist or otherwise) but real neighbourhoods that will project Rabat and Salé into a new century while at the same time respecting history and tradition, but also the scales and urban densities that have been created over time.
The reorganisation of movements in the Cité de l'Estuaire requires creating a tunnel under Les es Oudayas and Souk el Ghzel Square, reorganising the crossing of the Oued with the construction of a new Moulay Hassan Bridge (six lanes, a tramway line and soft modes of transport – pedestrians and two-wheel) and moving transit traffic to an additional crossing bypass (sector 03).
An administrative, commercial and tertiary district accompanies the new bridge. Across from the walls of Salé, it delimits a vast park, open to the west on the Moulay Hassan mausoleum.

Project Owner
Kingdom of Morocco
Agence pour l'aménagement de la Vallée du Bouregreg

Project Supervision
Reichen et Robert & Associés
Urban designer: Bert McClure
Landscaping: Atelier Jacqueline Osty & Associés

Area
Total area: 95 ha
Total area: 181,900 m²
Quays in Rabat: 131,030m²
River port: 32,150m²
Souk el Ghzel Square: 18,720 m²

Perspectives
Platform

Photographers
Bernard Reichen,Y. Bensouda

Carta - Reichen et Robert Associates - 1-MAROC-plan bouregreg_RRA.jpg
Carta - Reichen et Robert Associates - vue marina_RRA∏Platform.jpg
Carta - Reichen et Robert Associates - ∏Platform-muraille.jpg
Carta - Reichen et Robert Associates - 3-MAROC-jardin  muraille de SalÇ vers marina tour Hassan_RRA∏Platform.jpg
Carta - Reichen et Robert Associates - ∏Platform-vue quai.jpg
Carta - Reichen et Robert Associates - Quai marina_RRA∏Platform.jpg
Carta - Reichen et Robert Associates - 4-MAROC-depuis quais_RR&A∏Platform.jpg
Carta - Reichen et Robert Associates - 5-MAROC-cite du fleuve depuis les oudayas_RR&A∏Platform.jpg
Carta - Reichen et Robert Associates - PANNO 2.jpg
Carta - Reichen et Robert Associates - photos Bensouda_PICT0176.jpg
Carta - Reichen et Robert Associates - PICT0133cmjn.jpg
Carta - Reichen et Robert Associates - 7-MAROC-quai de Rabat_RRA_∏Bernard Reichen.jpg
Carta - Reichen et Robert Associates - 6-MAROC-les quais de Rabat_RRA_photos Bensouda_.jpg
Carta - Reichen et Robert Associates - photos Bensouda_PICT0021.jpg
Carta - Reichen et Robert Associates - porte bab el bar02.jpg
Carta - Reichen et Robert Associates - ∏Bernard Reichen_RRA_quai de Rabat04.jpg
Carta - Reichen et Robert Associates - ∏Bernard Reichen_IMG_2777.jpg
Carta - Reichen et Robert Associates - ∏Bernard Reichen_IMG_2783.jpg