Coustayrac eco-district
Crédit Agricole and Pitch
Housing, offices, retail units, a hotel and sports facilities
Pibrac, France
2019
Site of 15.6 hectares
Construction area: 48,000 m²
Bechu & Associés
The Coustayrac eco-district will be the "green door" to the Toulouse Métropole region. Located near the Airbus base, this urban project focuses on developing new roads and connections in a very overcrowded area. The result is a pilot project that is already making waves on a European level in terms of diversity and new forms of mobility. The aim is to stimulate a local economy built on business and tourism and to reduce traffic problems, but also to improve the quality of life of the area's residents and to raise the profile of a model living space.
The aims of the neighbourhood address important issues.
- Stimulating a local economy built on business and tourism.
- Reducing traffic-related issues, particularly congestion on the RN124 motorway and in the city centre, mainly by creating a bypass that will cut down the volume of traffic in the centre of Pibrac.
- Improving the quality of life of residents.
- Raising the profile, in a broad sense, of the town of Pibrac within the wider Toulouse area.
This neighbourhood project is part of a wider sustainable approach.
Elements of the project programme.
The development project is organised as follows:
- A band of multi-unit housing in the northern section of the main thoroughfare.
- Shops and offices will be installed in the south, including a co-working space, a nursery and a farm shop.
- To the west, we will find public services and social housing as well as a residence for the elderly.
- The east side will host sports facilities (gymnasium, running track, football/rugby pitch), semi-detached townhouse style housing, and an agricultural production area (urban farm).
- In the southern section bordering the RN124 motorway, a 3-star hotel will shelter the social housing, and recreational areas will be developed, notably a green walkway and a driving range.
The use of shared spaces.
Shared spaces will be used to link the various elements of the programme. They will be inserted occasionally throughout the project to give the eco-district its rhythm.
The shared spaces include:
- Places of rest and contemplation around retention ponds (microcosms where biodiversity will be the key element).
- Dynamic landscaped areas like the bike path and green walkway.
- Exchange spaces (carpooling and co-working).
The development scheme addresses the following issues:
- Firstly, creating a dynamic space like a beating heart at the centre of the project; this will then 'irrigate' the various aspects of the programme. The ponds and the planted and wooded areas will be dotted throughout the landscape, thus creating spaces that can be used for different purposes – games, walks, meeting places – all connected to one another. Pedestrian paths will link the blocks of buildings to these spaces. Alternating country hedges and groves will create a natural division between public and private spaces.
- Devising a bypass to limit traffic in the centre of Pibrac while ensuring a smooth connection with the city centre.
- Creating a new gateway to Pibrac in order to reduce congestion on the RN124 motorway.
- Ensuring consistency between the project, the new secondary school and the surrounding low-rise residential zones so as to smoothly integrate into the existing fabric of the area, especially in terms of the maximum height of the buildings to be constructed (3 to 4 storeys).
- Splitting the lot to offer flexibility in how the programme is distributed across the zone.
- Integrating the existing buildings into the design of the new district, anticipating their potential evolution.
This development scheme is based on our respect for and desire to improve the natural spaces surrounding the operation. It focuses on developing a high-quality public space around which the project's structural facilities can be positioned. The objective of the project is to therefore place the buildings within a 'green corridor' as if they were a plant species evolving in a natural habitat.
To put this into practice, the project's architectural language takes the form of green/living elements with soft curves and retention ponds; paths of different sizes are incorporated into this aesthetic, rounding out the picture.
On a human scale, the project takes its place as a natural safeguard, a lung that regenerates the city.
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