In Lille, the courthouse on Avenue du Peuple Belge will be sold and its structure preserved

Some wanted to see it razed, but other plans await. The building dates from 1969 and belongs to the Nord Department: the historic courthouse of Lillelocated in Old Lille, will be sold. A deliberation on this call for assignment was voted on in the plenary session of the departmental council on March 26, but we learned today that it included an imperative: preserve the structure of the building, whose concrete aesthetic appearance, which can be off-putting, represents an architectural interest.

Planned move

The Lille courthouse will move in 2026. It is planned to be sold before the end of 2025. Its current buildings, characteristic of the architectural style of the 1960s and 1970s, will have a second life.

In Old Lille, it has a very administrative and cold appearance, and is made up of two structures: a 12-story concrete towerwhich rises to 50 meters high, and which dominates a three-story building. No less than 20,000 m² of surface area. What will become of it after all the services are moved planned within one to two years, in the same neighborhood?

No question of demolishing

“ There were never any plans to deconstruct this building“, assures the mayor of Lille Martine Aubry, who specifies the architectural interest of the whole. “We are talking about brutalist art representative of the 1960s and 1970s. Some find it hideous, many buildings from this era have been demolished in France. In Lille, it will be kept. It will probably be necessary to ‘soften’ the facade, but the interior is magnificent. »

Besides its exterior appearance. Each courtroom is decorated with modern tapestry. Concrete art brut elements adorn the Salle des Pas Perdus. Ceramics by Émile Gilioli are present in the patio. The whole will therefore be sold, with one imperative: to preserve it as a whole.

The call for applications will be launched soon, with several stages: submission of files, submission of a written offer with a feasibility program, then a phase of negotiations, between the different aspiring buyers, we read in the deliberation of the departmental council .

And the new courthouse?

What about the new courthouse? In 2016, the construction of a new building bringing together the district court and the high court over 20,000 m² was completed, with a budget of 100 million euros.

Located a few hundred meters from the 1970 building, on the edge of La Madeleine, the construction of the new courthouse is progressing well. With only one downside: it is announced as too small.

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