The UDAP (departmental units of architecture and heritage) of Corsica

UDAP 2A (Southern Corsica)

UDAP 2B (Haute-Corse)

The missions of the UDAP

Departmental Units of Architecture and Heritage, DRAC’s local services, are made up of a multidisciplinary team headed by a department head - French Building Architect (ABF) – and are placed under the hierarchical authority of the regional director and functional authority of the prefect of department.

The UDAP work in direct contact with users who wish to start work in protected areas and with the actors of the spatial planning policies: local authorities, professionals of the urbanism and the building and other services of the State, in charge of urban and environmental protection policies.

Within the UDAP, the architects of buildings of France (ABF) belong to the body of architects and urban planners of the State, professionals specialized in architecture and heritage, have own powers provided by laws and regulations in force.

They fulfil three main missions: advising - controlling - preserving

• Advice and promotion of quality urban planning and architecture
• Monitoring and expertise of projects in protected areas
• Conservation of historic monuments

Mission summary MEMO:

Advise and evaluate projects in protected areas

The UDAP work for the promotion of a qualitative and sustainable development of the territory, where landscape, urban planning and architecture maintain a reasoned dialogue between project dynamics and consideration of heritage.

At the same time as being of general interest and attentive to local constraints, UDPAs raise awareness among public officials and all citizens of the long-term consequences of space protection measures and help them to be implemented.

They play a leading role in advising and promoting quality urban planning and architecture, in particular by taking into account the context in which buildings must integrate harmoniously.

In protected areas, the ABF gives its agreement on requests for authorization of works under the code of heritage and urban planning (building permits, demolition permits, development permits) and gives an agreement or an opinion under the Code of the environment;

UDAP accompanies public actors, territorial officials, in the identification of heritage, urban or architectural issues as part of the development of their urban and architectural projects (architectural competitions, construction or development projects, planning documents).

They are the partners of the municipalities which initiate a procedure for drawing up, amending or revising their local town planning plan (PLU).

The UDAP contribute to enrich a PLU under the «architectural provisions» (article 11) which take into account the history of the built. On the outskirts of towns and villages, their participation in the definition of urban planning documents helps to control the expansion of pavilion and commercial areas so that they do not harm the landscape. Architectural and landscape reference books can be produced for municipalities that wish to help them in the day-to-day management of work requests.

The UDAP also assists the prefects of department to prepare their opinion on major projects such as road infrastructure, wind farms, or any project related to architecture, urban planning and landscape issues.

Monitoring and expertise of projects in protected areas

Protected spaces include: Notable Heritage Sites - RPS (e.g., ZPPAUP, Protected Areas, Architectural and Heritage Development Areas - AVAP) and Historic Monument Approaches (perimeter boundaries and co-visibility).

Notable Heritage Sites (SPR):

The remarkable heritage sites were created by the law of 7 July 2016 on freedom of creation, architecture and heritage.

This device aims to protect and highlight the architectural, urban and landscape heritage of our territories.

When the importance of heritage issues justifies their implementation, the UDAP propose, animate or coordinate studies relating to Remarkable Heritage Sites (former ZPPAUP or AVAP) or the delimited perimeters of the surroundings of the historic monument.

UDAP issues opinions on all projects which have the effect of making changes in protected areas (built or natural), with the ambition of maintaining or even improving their quality. Protected spaces are of several types: remarkable heritage site, natural sites, archaeological sites, urban complexes or surroundings of historical monuments.

The regulation distinguishes four large families of protected spaces, for which the modes of protection, and therefore the intervention of the UDAP differ. These are:

• Sites listed or classified
• Perimeter approaches to historical monuments (500 metres) possibly perimeter delimited approaches
• Remarkable Heritage Sites (SPR) - formerly AVAP Architectural and Heritage Development Areas (AVAP), succeeding the ZPPAUP Architectural, Urban and Landscape Heritage Protection Areas.

In accordance with the Coastal Law, efforts are being made to ensure that the quality of coastal areas is safeguarded. As such, the architect of the buildings of France is asked to issue opinions on applications for temporary occupation of the maritime public domain and this especially for the establishment of seasonal activities that are developing on the beaches and in seaside during the summer period.

The issuing of opinions represents an important mission of the UDAP and concerns any request for authorisation of works located in a protected area, under the Urban Planning and Heritage Code (preliminary declarations of works, building permits, development or demolition) or special authorizations under the Heritage Code, as well as advertising and signs.

Conservation of historic monuments

The UDAP provides a local public service to private or public owners of monuments protected as historical monuments:

• contribute, in conjunction with the DRAC Regional Conservation of Historical Monuments Service, to the scientific and technical control of the work carried out on the monuments protected under the title of historical monuments (classified and inscribed) Ensure a health watch over the entire protected heritage, advise the owners in terms of works, ensure the monitoring of the realization of maintenance works and issue opinions on works projects;
• advise on requests for protection of historic monuments
• advise on the conservation of unprotected heritage (churches, town halls, wash houses, etc.) and give opinions on the dossiers submitted by the prefectures (Endowment of equipment of rural territories - DETR), the Regional Council, the Departmental Councils, the Heritage Foundation...

The architects of the buildings of France are also curators of protected buildings belonging to the state and managed by the Ministry of Culture (especially cathedrals). The ABF of Corse-du-Sud is curator of the imperial chapel (funeral chapel of the Bonaparte family), a historical monument belonging to the State and assigned to the Ministry of Culture.

Thus, before any work or interventions on protected or unprotected heritage, the consultation of the architect of the buildings of France is advised.

The Architecte des Bâtiments de France sits on the Conseil des sites formation patrimoine, a body that proposes the classification or the inscription of buildings as historical monuments. He is the rapporteur of the projects of architecture in classified site during the Council of sites in landscape formation