Les terrasses de Coquelles / Zone d'activités

Composition of 'The Terrasses de Coquelles'

inouit — 2007-10-19T13:13:31Z

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Utilities

inouit — 2007-10-16T10:15:06Z

Gas, electricity, telecommunications

Each unit has a gas and electric inlet inside the circuit breaker box situated in the small wall in front of the unit.

Each unit has a level-3 reliability France Telecom double-connection providing investors with a dual-penetration, double-feed optical loop. The Terrasses de Coquelles is therefore suitable for companies requiring ultra-secure telecommunication systems such as Call Centres.

Waterworks

Drinking water network and sewage system

Of course, the units are hooked up to the public drinking water network and sewage system.

However, in order to protect the water-cycle and natural water resources, alternative purification techniques are used to treat rain water. “Porchet” type tests have indicated that the ground has an exceptionally high capacity to absorb rain water.

We therefore opted for rainwater treatment systems not only in common areas (ditches, infiltration gutters) but also on each unit (porous mounds, landscaped ditches).

Landscaping

inouit — 2007-10-16T09:45:14Z

Particular attention has been paid to the Terrasses de Coquelles landscaping. A third of the overall development budget has been designated to land improvement.

The “green” infrastructure has been organised in such a way as to privilege three main factors: maximum protection from the prevailing winds, unobstructed panoramic views and maximum visibility from the A16 motorway.

It is based on the original cadastral sheet line system whose northwest/southeast orientation has a profound influence on the zone and continues to justify its historic title of “Longues Pièces” – literally “Long pieces”.

Terrasses' landscaping

The harmonious nature of the Terrasses de Coquelles landscaping depends entirely on the “green guidelines” put in place by the commune (principally guaranteeing green areas around the zone and on the access roads), and the respect shown for the “green specifications” by each company that acquires a unit.

List of plant species used in common areas and recommended for each unit :

Al these species are recommended by the “Parc naturel régional des Caps et Marais d’Opale” nature reserve. They are adapted to the local soil and climate.

Trees	Shrubs
Black alder, Hornbeam, English oak, Field maple, Sycamore maple, Common ash, Aspen, White willow, Pollard willow, Small-leaved linden	Common gorse, Sea buckthorn, European cornel, Common dogwood, Wild rose, European spindle, Common buckthorn, Hazelnut, Blackthorn, Grey sallow, Pussy willow, Elderberry, Wayfaring tree, Guelder rose.

Plantation in numbers:

88 tree stems
934 staked trees (between 1m50 and 1m75 tall)
32024 shrubs (between 40 and 90 cm tall)

Division into units

inouit — 2007-10-16T09:43:35Z

The units are divided up according to the cadastral plans in order to give the site a similar feel to the one it had when it was merely a string of long fields. The division also takes the contour lines into account.

See the plan of composition of "The Terrasses de Coquelles".

The road network on site

inouit — 2007-10-16T09:40:09Z

The road network on site

The road network makes a two-way loop in the shape of a trapezium. It follows the natural contour lines or intersects the slope at its steepest point. This configuration enables us to respect the characteristics of the site (relief, cadastral sheet line system).

Traffic is filtered into the Old Coquelles hamlet by a road that is accessible only to passenger cars.

The two-way roads are 13 metres wide in all. This includes a 2-metre wide pedestrian walkway, separated from the road by a 1m50 wide shrub plantation. The road itself is 6 metres wide and a 3m50 wide ditch runs alongside it.

Hydrography

inouit — 2007-10-16T09:34:29Z

The site itself has no hydrographical network. Not one stream flows down the gentle slope. However, water is close at hand in the nearby Flemish lowlands which have a characteristic watergang drainage system, as indicated by the place names, which often end with the “ingues” suffix signalling the presence of water.

In the dale, at the bottom end of the “Longues Pièces” zone, flows a brook once renowned for its crystal clear water and the presence of watercress. Today, it is blocked by the railway lines of the Channel Tunnel terminal and disappears entirely after that.

Geology

inouit — 2007-10-16T09:30:26Z

The “Longues Pièces” lies on an area of sedimentary deposits dating from the Senonian period (secondary), made up of white chalk formed from flint. Fine and porous, this chalk is particularly visible on the top of the cliffs at Cap Blanc Nez. This sheet then gives way to a layer of white chalk from the upper Turonian stage which can be distinguished by the fossils embedded in it. The average thickness of this layer is 10 metres.

Topography

inouit — 2007-10-16T09:10:12Z

The "Longues Pièces"

The Terrasses de Coquelles business park occupies the 23-hectare “Longues Pièces” district to the south of central Coquelles in the “Old Coquelles” sector.

The Belin map of Calais indicates that this area was already inhabited in the 18th century. At the time, it stood on “dry ground” on one of the “peaks” of the Artois hills. This nucleus of construction within the wider commune has hardly changed over the years, the town preferring to continue its expansion more towards the lowlands to the north.

The “Longues pièces” arable farmland was situated on a slope running from northwest to southeast, the altitude ranging from approximately 25 to 10m.

The new business park lies at the intersection of two natural geographic regions, the Flemish lowlands and the Artois hills.

The “Longues pièces” district, literally meaning “long pieces”, gets its name from the elongated shape of the fields that run down the whole length of the slope, each one belonging to a single farmer.