P4 Porte de Pantin – Integrating zero-emission logistics in Paris, by SYVIL Architectures du Système Ville

To answer Paris call for sustainable urban logistic projects, SYVIL collaborated with Sogaris from the very beginning of their reflection. This results in a very innovative building : the urban distribution centre is shared between several logistics providers as one could share an apartment in order to lower the costs ; it is a window to the backstage of zero emission last-mile logistics ; it is based on temporary occupation of public property ; it is a building that can be disassembled and reassembled elsewhere after a first 12-year operating cycle.

P4 is a pioneer in urban logistics, it can be described as an low-emission micro-Rungis. It establishes an innovative logistics system, mutualising time and space with partners that are looking for less polluting and more compact models. In this project, one truck running on natural gas unloads at one time the equivalent of 14 small clean vehicles that will deliver the final customer.

This project offers another kind of urban logistics : much cleaner, it blends into the city and gives life back to residual spaces. The building slips under Paris ring road and helps reconnecting the various districts around the Porte de Pantin. The building runs 24/7 and the light coming out turns it into a lantern in the city, as a signal of the future of logistics.

On Pantin side, the building reveals the constant choreography of a new kind of vehicles : trucks and vans running on natural gas, cargo bikes, electric trolleys – all are of course zero-emission. On Paris side, a large window allows pedestrians waiting for their bus to discover the ballet of the merchandize that will then spread in the city.

While it used to be rejected out of the cities, architecture helps giving logistics back its rightful position.

 

By SYVIL Architectures du Système Ville

Visit SYVIL Architectures du Système Ville website