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Architects: MDR Architectes, architecturestudio
- Area: 10000 m²
- Year: 2021
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Photographs:Marie-Caroline Lucat
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Manufacturers: Bellapart, Bega, Forbo Flooring Systems, iGuzzini, CAIRplus, COMPA 220, FläktGroup, GERB, Placo, Signature F, Wavin, Zumtobel
Conceived as a musical village where people can dance and sing on the rooftops, the Music Conservatory of Montpellier opens up to the city as a new cultural center rooted in a haven of greenery.
The Music Conservatory of Montpellier is located in the heart of the city, in the Boutonnet district. The building complex seeks to define an urban composition design that integrates generously dimensioned public spaces and two complementing housing projects. It is located on the former site of the Grasset Maternity Hospital, whose only entrance hall has been preserved within compliance with its architectural style.
Blending into the abundant existing vegetation, the Conservatory is conceived as a musical village featuring built volumes interspersed with patios, terraces, and suspended gardens, interconnected by corridors widely open to the street. The project seeks to renew the architectural relationship with educational institutions by proposing a new lifestyle. It also addresses the relationship of the music conservatory to the city in terms of urban planning values by connecting these two environments through fragmented volumes set in the middle of a green landscape.
The building stands in the recess of a vast square accommodating the main passageways and a 400-seat auditorium, offering a progressive entrance sequence into the spacious and airy classrooms. The building blends harmoniously with the surrounding built masses, by means of cascading volumes that closely match the contours of the former nursery and the square. The hanging gardens reach out towards the tree canopies, overhung by a skyline marked by the “fish-scale” patterns of the photovoltaic panels.
The subtle interweaving of the different spaces highlighted by the filtered effects of the colored sunshades on the façades, creates a poetic and nurturing environment, fitting for a cultural institution for the study and practice of music, dance, and drama, and creates a pleasant living and working environment for all. Revitalizing the heart of the Boutonnet district, this contextual, innovative, and contemporary architectural creation will undoubtedly enhance the anticipated future outreach of the Conservatory.
