Abstract
The Zen-like Maison des Services is located at the heart of the Latécoère tertiary campus.
It is a large kiosk in the park surrounding the Latécoère headquarters.
Like a tea pavilion, this modest structure forms a strong signal, anchored in the landscape. It demonstrates the synergies between a high-tech company like Latécoère and low-tech design.
The choice of wood as the exclusive building material takes on all the challenges inherent to this material: its technology, its specific assemblies, its aesthetics. Beams, posts, floors, joists, terraces, roofing, facades, joinery and sunshades all sing a hymn to its materiality, with the two species used, larch and spruce, adding nuance to the overall tone. Frugal and resilient, this project is part of a low-carbon approach, contributing in its own way to the ecological transition to which Latécoère is committed.
Latécoère site
The gradual disappearance of industrial sites in the heart of cities is freeing up large tracts of land, ideal for urban densification. Densifying the city means increasing mobility, reducing transport times and sharing facilities.
The transformation of the Periole site, originally owned by Latécoère and until now impervious, is part of this urban renewal scheme, covering more than five hectares.
The project developed in this sector is part of an ambition to rebuild the city on itself by increasing the urban mass in order to combat sprawl, a source of environmental nuisance and "bad living". As part of Toulouse's urban continuum, the Latécoère site must articulate different scales. Not only its relationship with larger areas, but also its local roots, in the "here and now". This means rethinking the site's mix of uses.
The site's perimeter crosses multiple urban situations: to the north, the plot borders a suburban fabric of low-rise buildings with gardens and tree-lined outdoor spaces; to the south, a large R+8 housing complex is dotted around an urban park, planted with trees. To the east, Place de la Roseraie, with its central garden, forms a central hub at the end of Rue de Periole. The La Roseraie metro station is a major asset to the site in terms of mobility, and in itself justifies the mixed-use programming.
Our methodology consists of articulating the scales of the site in a work of urban seamlessness, reconnecting the block to the neighborhood via a road network ensuring true urban porosity, setting up a landscape continuity involving all urban strata, floors, terraces, roofs, and finally thematizing the proposed typologies in order to strongly characterize the site.
In this context, the Maison des Services Latécoère, dedicated to the company restaurant, cafeteria, fitness center and VIP lounge of the new headquarter Latécoère, is an opportunity to appease and requalify the emblematic site in terms of scale, constructive quality and use. The project as a whole also includes housing, facilities and specialized residences. It's a real neighborhood built over a long period of time. La Maison is only the first element to be delivered.
Key idea of the project and its main variations
The Maison des Services Latécoère is simple, says Xavier Gonzalez: "It is the pavilion in the park, which brings people together, where they want to go. It's like a party pavilion. It's a place to connect.”
The tea pavilion typology served as inspiration for this wood-frame design.
A hymn to the plasticity of larch and spruce, this low-carbon project is frugal and low-tech. A simple application of RT2012, it has been designed like a Japanese pavilion in a garden, echoing the surrounding park. With this in mind, the choice of wood as the construction material meant that the inherent constraints of wood were taken into account from the outset, without technological subterfuge. Every structural, technical and functional element has its place, and everything is made of wood: beams, posts, floors, joists, terraces, roofing, facade, joinery and sunshades.
Its rectangular shape extends over three levels, from ground to second floor. Each level features large terraces with views over the park, which is itself planted with trees. The main body of the building is bordered by these terrace walkways and external staircases, which facilitate fluid distribution. On the second floor, two emergences house the restaurant's mezzanine and reception rooms. The beams extend outwards from the interior to accommodate terraces and balconies. Large bay windows provide generous light. Wooden frames and fixed sunshade elements represent a technical challenge, with their slender height of over three meters.
Thermal comfort is ensured by the presence of overhanging terraces on the south and west sides, and a graphic play of moucharabiehs on the east and north facades.
The floor edges are made of metal to protect the wood structure from the elements. They continue to run along the stair stringers. They create a rhythm in the facade and embody the fluidity of the site. In the style of Sol Lewitt's paintings, the sunshades break up the built volume, catching all the day's light, according to its rhythm and orientation.
Today, when the spirit of frugality is becoming the order of the day, this is a convincing example. For here, frugality is to be found in the very approach to the project. It's about organizing the transition in a simple, essential way, away from the many prescriptive barriers. The Maison des Services Latécoère shows that this is possible, even in the context of a highly technological company.
Construction system and materials used
Eschewing the CLT model, the floors here are made of LVL panels (+ screed) laid on spruce joists. Acoustic baffles are fitted between these joists. Beams and posts are made of glued laminated spruce. The beams extend from the inside to the outside, accommodating terraces (waterproofed and covered with wood decking) and balconies. The facades feature non-load-bearing timber-frame elements clad with autoclaved clapboard.
Wooden frames and fixed brise soleil elements present a technical challenge: a slenderness of over three meters in height. In a virtuous approach to local consumption, Pyrénées Charpentes produced the timber frame, while Agence Lorillard Occitanie supplied the 222 wooden joinery units.
Technical data
MAISON DES SERVICES LATECOERE
135 Rue de Périole - 31 500 TOULOUSE
Company restaurant, cafeteria, fitness center, VIP lounge
Architect Brenac & Gonzalez & Associés
Jean-Pierre Lévêque associate BGA
BGA Project Manager: Raphaël LLORENS (BGA partner)
Competition 2016
Delivery 2021
Client ICADE
Surface area 1953 m²
Cost 5.9 M€ HT
Eco-design : Low carbon
Landscape : TN PLUS
Woodwork : Pyrénées Charpentes
Wood joinery : Lorillard Occitanie
Technical engineering offices : BETEM/ADDENDA/ ANTEA
Copyrights :
Photos Sergio Grazia
