Extension of the Municipal Technical Center

Project Description

The extension of the municipal technical centre of Saint-Jean-de-Vedas near Montpellier marks the southern entrance of a new urban development being created along the Librilla avenue, punctuating the corner plot as an urban signal.
Following the appointment of the technical and the urban planning services, the engineers and technical personnel were temporarily housed in modular buildings, pending delivery of the new building.
The wooden, prefabricated structure was presented to the client as a means of optimising the construction period (7 months).  Other factors contributed to this choice: maintaining a clean site within a busy site, marking a break with the concrete architecture of the existing building (workshops), promoting clearer public spaces, consolidating the functions of the new ensemble.

Consisting of a dyed spruce siding and a stone wall, the ground floor is open to the public, while the two upper floors offer workspace and office space for the technical staff. All the studies, the construction and delivery were completed in one year.

The wooden prefabricated structure was produced by a local carpenter and fixed on a concrete foundation. A stone wall marks the entrance to the facility and the neighbourhood and is a reference to the old vine terraces that characterised the landscape around Montpellier.