Client: Montauban town
Design team: Colboc Franzen Associés (lead architect), D PAYSAGE (landscape architects), ATPI (infrastructure engineers), SB&B (lighting)
My role: Project Landscape architect from competition phase to site supervision
Location: Montauban, France
Date: 2007-2012
Surface: 5 355 m²
Budget: 7.6M € excl. VAT
Located at the eastern entrance to the town, the Montauban Media Centre esplanade is designed around one simple principle: encouraging access for all to a public venue dedicated to culture. Being part of a neighbourhood undergoing a major renewal programme, the Montauban Media Centre is an essential component of the town’s evolution. It also provides a counterpoint to the green belt, another structural element of the neighbourhood. The topography echoes the architectural volumes. The mono-directional linear vegetation underlines the iconic silhouette, whilst guiding the public towards the entrance. The warm tones of the materials such as the terracotta brick inserts, the corten and the pumice mulching are contrasted by the linearity of the silver bands of lavender and artemesias. This low aromatic planting, recalling a dry field of the Midi-Pyrénées landscape, naturally follows the contour of the ground. The Gleditsia tree planting provides a graphic shadow that stands out on this mainly hardscape esplanade.