As part of a consortium with GCC, DEMATHIEU BARD is working on a large-scale design-build project in Toulouse—the Cité Internationale des Chercheurs, a new campus complex for university students and researchers.
Home to the second university institution in France
Home to the second university institution in France, the city of Toulouse wanted to strengthen its leading position in academia by building the Cité internationale des chercheurs. The project was developed by architectural firms Atelier Méridional Joël Nissou and Taillandier architectes associés. It is being executed by the DEMATHIEU BARD Midi‑Pyrénées agency for Cité Jardin.
The immense complex, spanning almost 28,371 m2 with a surface area of 12,802 m2, is the city’s largest project and one of the key projects underway for the Midi-Pyrénées agency. Launched in August 2020, the project involves the construction of two new buildings and a pedestrian walkway, as well as the renovation of an iconic building that housed the site’s first research laboratory, which was created by Paul Sabatier in 1913.
A multi-purpose site
The complex is being built to provide the community of international researchers, PhD students, lecturers and undergraduate students with a multi-purpose site that includes:
– Short, medium and long-stay accommodation solutions
– A hotel
– A club for researchers
– A coworking space
– A conference space with 200-seat capacity
– A 1,000 m2 incubator
– A restaurant
– An exhibition space
– A gym
– An underground carpark with 180 spaces
On-site work will be carried out in two phases:
– First phase: reconstruction of the historic “H Building” over three/four floors around a central patio, retaining and renovating the original brick facades only. This 3,099 m2 building will be transformed into 119 housing units, including studios as well as one, two and three-bed apartments. The building will also contain a breakfast cafeteria, the club for researchers and a gym.
– Second phase: construction of two new five-story buildings spanning 7,430 m2, with two basement floors in Building A. The buildings will include long-stay residences with 264 accommodation units as well as a conference room, restaurant, co-working space and multilingual reception area.
Initially scheduled to take place in the last quarter of 2022, the handover was postponed to January 2023 due to the pandemic.
Project owner: Cité Jardins for the Federal University of Toulouse
Architect and Project Manager: Agence Taillandier and Agence Joël Nissou
Technical engineering consultants: Otéis / Atelier ATP / Emacoustic
Consortium: GCC and DEMATHIEU BARD
© Agence Taillandier
