Gare de Troyes: space for urban trees with TreeParker at the station

During the redevelopment of the Gare de Troyes, the focus was on more greenery, quality of stay, and an attractive entrance to the city. Thanks to the underground tree pit system TreeParker, new trees could be planted despite limited space and existing infrastructure. Today, these trees form a mature green structure that contributes to climate adaptation and a pleasant public space.

The French city of Troyes, located in the Grand Est region, is known for its rich history and distinctive city centre. On the edge of this historic centre lies the Gare de Troyes, an important railway junction on the line between Paris and Mulhouse. Since the 19th century, the station has served as a gateway to the city, connecting thousands of travellers daily with the region and the capital. In recent years, the area around the station has undergone a major transformation, redeveloping the site into a modern hub with greater focus on quality of stay, mobility and appearance.

Prior to this redevelopment, the station area was characterised by a highly functional and infrastructure-focused layout. The public space consisted largely of hard surfaces, with significant space for traffic and parking, while greenery and quality of stay were still limited. As a result, the area lacked comfort for pedestrians and travellers, even though it should serve as a calling card for the city. Underground conditions also posed a challenge: the presence of cables, pipes and heavy traffic loads left little room for healthy tree growth. The ambition to green the area while preserving existing infrastructure made an innovative approach essential.

In 2017, the redevelopment of the station square began, with the planting of a new row of trees as a key component. The works were carried out in several phases, with Eiffage Route Nord Est involved as the contractor for the public space works. During implementation, the TreeParker system was selected, an underground tree pit layout specifically developed for trees in heavily paved urban environments.

First, deep trenches were excavated, after which a draining foundation layer was installed. The modular TreeParker units were then placed, forming a stable structure beneath the paving. These units were filled with high-quality, non-compacted soil in which tree roots can develop freely. The system combines load-bearing capacity with growing space: it can withstand heavy traffic loads while simultaneously creating an optimal rootable volume. In addition, the trees receive extra water, oxygen and stability through aeration and irrigation pipes and root ball anchoring. Troyes was one of the first cities in France to apply this innovative technique on this scale.

Now, more than 9 years after installation, the results are clearly visible. The trees along the Gare de Troyes are healthy and vigorous and have developed into mature, defining elements in the public space. Their canopies have grown full and wide, providing pleasant shade for travellers and visitors to the station. The green structure softens the hard character of the area and contributes to a pleasant experience of the space, particularly during warm periods.

The redevelopment of the Gare de Troyes is therefore a compelling example of how technical innovation and urban greening can go hand in hand. Where the area was once dominated by hard surfaces and infrastructure, it has now become an attractive, green and future-proof city entrance. The application of TreeParker has played an important role in this: it makes it possible to realise large, healthy trees in locations where this was previously hardly conceivable.