Multimedia Library
The commanding presence of vegetation together with low-density construction constitute the most characteristic urban feature of the two town blocks set on either side of Avenue Marcel Houel, where this building is located. This highly prized city landscape should be acknowledged and protected. Since Avenue Marcel Houel is regarded as a wound between two green cores, our aim is to find landscape that merges nature and architecture. This union between construction and nature was the basis for decisions. The idea of creating a broad public boulevard in the centre of the avenue arose from analysis of the site, from the aspiration to create a link between the town hall and the Multimedia Library. There is a meadow at the intersection of the two avenues, in front of the building.
The cross-shaped system is the geometric and functional organiser of the link between the two blocks, while also connecting the Minguetter and Charriard suburbs, the old quarter and the southern part of the city.
Current urban planning regulations are observed around the meadows with streets, lanes and other passageways. This capillary network will provide the allotments where single family dwellings are to be built with services. We aim to maintain a fabric of single-family housing that proclaims the virtues of living in the city, in the heart of the city, where one may have a house and garden. Our organisational philosophy is to work with, rather than violently disturb the state of things, and to work from, towards a project that values the quality of the place and improves its lifestyle. It is a work by brushstrokes, with the addition of elements on a modest scale, based on an overall vision rather than the opposite approach in which a global, often managerial perspective leads to brutal, partial operations.