The “massive” building of 20 housing units in Vendée will have to revise its roof

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The Nantes administrative court of appeal finally gave six months to the developer who bears the “massive” building project planned rue Laënnec, at Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie (Vendée), to review its “surprising choice of roof”, as the public rapporteur pointed out at the hearing.

A 13 meter high building

As a reminder, the Laennec civil construction-sales company (SCCV) project – a subsidiary of the real estate developer Opus, based in Saint-Herblain (Loire-Atlantique) – involves the creation of a “13 meter” high building. and “14 meters” wide at n°2 bis rue René-Laënnec.

At first instance, the Nantes administrative court found nothing wrong with the green light given by Mayor François Blanchet (ex-LR) to this project which “presents simple geometric shapes”.

“It crushes the neighboring buildings”

During the appeal hearing, on November 19, 2024, the public rapporteur, however, found that the project suffered from a “lack of integration into its environment”.

“The authors of the Local Urban Plan (PLU) wanted to place great importance on the insertion of new construction projects. However, the building has a volume that is out of all proportion to the houses in this area,” he told the three judges.

“It crushes neighboring buildings, contrary to what the PLU requires. (…) The progressiveness in the urbanization objective of this sector implies that the town hall first authorizes intermediate-sized collective projects before more ambitious projects, like the one studied today. »

“About 200 meters”

But “the surrounding buildings are mainly made up of single-storey detached houseswith however (…) collective housing and a hospital distant (…) approximately 200 meters”, responds the administrative court of appeal of Nantes in a judgment dated December 6, 2024 which has just been made public . “It does not emerge (…) from the file that the district, which is not characterized by the homogeneity of its architecture, would present any particular urban planning interest. »

“It does not appear further (…) from the file that rue Laënnec would present a perspective on the bell tower and the city center, as supported by the association for the defense of rue Laënnec and others [riverains] », Adds the Nantes administrative court of appeal.

“A façade length of 29.26 meters”

“The project (…) concerns the construction of a building (…) with a height of 12.99 meters and a façade length of 29.26 meters,” add the Nantes judges. “The massive character of this construction, whose only difference in scale with the neighboring suburban constructions cannot characterize a lack of integration into its urban environment, (…) is however attenuated by several facade recesses as well as by a treatment in penthouse of the last level which avoids a crushing effect of neighboring constructions. »

And its fence “does not appear out of harmony” with those of neighboring houses.

The developer must obtain a modification building permit

The Nantes administrative court of appeal will therefore rule on the legality of this real estate project by June 6, 2025, if the developer obtains in the meantime a “modifying” building permit from the town hall to correct its “roof four non-symmetrical sections” contrary to the local urban planning plan of Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie, according to her.

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