As urban designers we have an important social responsibility. We help to adapt the city, the landscape and public spaces to the user and their needs, taking into account constant and increasingly rapid changes to our way of life.

What guides us is a combination of key urban planning principles: accessibility, adaptability, diversity and sustainability. By applying these principles throughout our projects, we create places that are pleasant to live in. For everyone.

Rather than imposing a certain urban environment, we develop paths and connections between places and neighbourhoods – both existing and new (created?) – designed to encourage social interaction between all the users of a site. We design spaces for living, working, laughing, crying, experimenting, running, , meeting up… and relaxing.

Managing a project’s budget is one of Atelier LD’s strengths, and a key element of our global approach. Defining clear costings is a first step to achieving a financially viable project. Continuous coordination between the designer and the cost professional is essential, helping to design bespoke solutions for each project. We thus provide a response entirely adapted to the design brief, and within the client’s budget.

Our mission is to build quality projects that are both aesthetic, and economically viable.

More than just a resource, our water systems have shaped landscapes for thousands of years, forging the life of a region and its inhabitants. Today, rapid urbanisation has led to the sealing of large surfaces of soil. As we disturb the natural balance, so we experience increased instances of flooding and other water-related issues. This puts hydrology at the centre of urban projects – every project team at Atelier LD includes an urban hydrologist who works alongside architects, designers, landscape architects and engineers.

Since its inception Atelier LD has placed water at the heart of its projects, and is increasingly recognised for its expertise in this area.

From the initial design stages through to project delivery we systematically place emphasis on the water system and how water is channelled, working around its natural flow and using it to bring an essential added value to public spaces.

Our efforts to limit the environmental impact of urbanisation include alternative management of rainwater, e.g. by limiting impervious surfaces to encourage infiltration.
We firmly believe in the reversibility, and multi-purpose nature, of the infrastructure we design.

We carry out all our projects with respect for the site, and its context. In our design we consider all the natural elements: land, soil, vegetation… to build resilient cities of exceptional environmental quality, preserving our natural resources both for ourselves – and for future generations.

Throughout our projects we work to adapt every new development to the natural terrain. This helps us design projects with lower environmental impact (site-sensitive design) – and a high degree of cost efficiency.

Atelier LD also works to forge a connection between the project and its environment, whether immediate (the neighbourhood) or further away (the nearby town or surrounding countryside). The landscape framework we create thus connects with ecological corridors, encouraging the reintegration of biodiversity – even in the most urban environments.

At Atelier LD we follow a sustainable urban planning approach, aimed at building over time – and for future generations. How we optimise resources is raised early in the urban design process, to get as close as possible to a city that is both environmentally- and cost-efficient.

At Atelier LD we aim to deliver developments that have a minimal impact on the natural environment – yet provide maximum comfort to their users.

At every design stage we evaluate every opportunity to make this happen. Our projects:

• Make best use of the site’s natural assets and its resources, developing spatial patterns best adapted to the site’s topography and climatic conditions.
• Promote mixed use, walkable neighbourhoods developed around transport nodes.
• Optimise a project’s “hard” infrastructure, replacing it – where possible – with nature based solutions. We seek to create networks of green public spaces that participate actively in the reduction of heat islands – a considerable challenge in large urban centres and their surroundings.
• Use native plant species best adapted to their local soil and climate, and plant trees.
• Advocate a holistic approach to the buildings within our projects, for optimum integration of new constructions in their environment, and climate.
• Integrate natural cooling into our projects through urban and landscaping composition.

In order to provide an optimal response to a project’s requirements, and guided by recent technological developments, our team receive ongoing training on the constant changes in the energy sector.