The Blanchemaille project, which is led by Lille Metropole, concerns the rehabilitation of an emblematic building (the “Pollet” building: 13,601 m2 floor area), located in Roubaix (1 of the 95 municipalities of the metropolitan area) on the site of the historic headquarters of “La Redoute”. The project will create a Totem location, a centre of excellence dedicated to e-commerce sectors. The programme includes the development of tertiary areas to accommodate companies in the incubation, acceleration and business hotels phase, combined with logistics and event spaces.

The project has many environmental ambitions as part of Lille Metropole’s Energy and Environmental Quality of Buildings strategy, which aims to develop exemplary projects in terms of energy performance, low-carbon renovation and the development of the circular economy.

After 3 years of work, the Pollet Blanchemaille project is the subject of several labels and certifications: Effinergie Rénovation label, Osmoz label and the HQE Sustainable Building certification, which was also marked ‘Excellent’ in December 2023 during the Design phase by the CERTIVEA body. The French label HQE (High environment quality) is the equivalent of BREEAM: Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment label.

The use of bio-based materials, as well as re-use of materials from the previous building, has enabled the project to meet the criteria of the Wood Pact from the Hauts-de-France Region and to become a pioneering illustration of the development of the circular economy at the national level. In this context, the Blanchemaille project has very recently been awarded the low-carbon label. This is a first in France for a real estate project driven by a local authority!

Launched in 2019 by the Ministry of Ecological Transition, the low carbon label makes it possible to recognize the positive impact of a project on the climate thanks to the CO2 emissions that its implementation will avoid, reduce or sequester. In terms of renovation, the emphasis is on re-use -  indeed, reusing materials as part of a construction site means avoiding the greenhouse gas emissions that should have been generated to produce them in new condition!

As part of the Blanchemaille project, 277 tons of CO2 will be avoided thanks to the reuse of joinery, tiles, carpets, false ceilings ... By way of comparison, this corresponds to the carbon weight of 157 round trips Paris / New York, more than 1.2 million km by thermal car (30 times around the world!) or some 112 million emails sent!

In a European context, the Blanchemaille project is one of the reference projects highlighted in the DREC (Dramatically Reducing Embodied Carbon in Europe’s Built Environment) partnership led by the CNCA (Carbon Neutral Cities Alliance) together with a dozen European cities Amsterdam, Bordeaux Metropole, Glasgow, Helsinki, Lund, Nantes Metropole, Oslo, Stockholm, Tampere, Turku, Valladolid and Lille Metropole.