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Origin and history

The Château d'eau d'Hérouville-Saint-Clair is a metal building designed to feed the city's ZUP (Zone to Urbanize in Priority). Initiated in 1963, its construction was decided in 1967 after a competition won by Delattre-Levivier. Tested in a wind tunnel, it was commissioned in June 1967 and commissioned in June 1968. At a height of 52 metres, it consists of three steel vats of 500 m3 each, placed on three pillars, one of which houses a spiral staircase. The tanks are painted in three shades of blue, while the pillars are grey, with red and black bridges.

In 1963, architect Georges Johannet, a ZUP advisor, designed a triple reservoir with modern lines. The final project includes two bridges at 14 and 21 metres, originally planned to broadcast sports events at the nearby Prest oats stadium. The building, illuminated since 2003 by Citéval, has inspired the municipality's logo since 1971 and remains a municipal symbol, reused in its communication from 2004 with the help of cartoonist Emmanuel Chaunu.

Ranked as historical monuments in 2010 and labeled "Twentieth Century Heritage" in 2007, this castle embodies the technical and aesthetic innovation of the Thirty Glories. It is part of the alignment of Avenue de la Grande Cavée, the east-west central axis of the new city. Its bold design and utilitarian function make it a unique testimony to the urban planning and industrial architecture of the time.

The castle is part of a system of three reservoirs feeding Hérouville-Saint-Clair, including a 500 m3 buried tank and the "sphere", a 3,000 m3 tank that was commissioned in 1981. Its initial role was to provide water for the UFA, reflecting the growing needs of an expanding population during the 1960s and 1970s.

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