The ESMA (École Supérieure des Métiers Artistiques) stands on the site of a former army barracks, specifically on the parade ground.
Military buildings to be reused and new buildings that will shape a new neighbourhood surround us. The architects of mateoarquitectura outline the parade ground, respecting the great trees around its edges and defining an open communal courtyard. The volume, though rigid, seeks to adapt to the place. The brief is complex and highly attractive; a small condensed city: a large inner plaza, a restaurant, a large technical space: the film set, lecture rooms and academic spaces along with dwellings, sports facilities, etc. A small city with academic, leisure and residential activities.
The project seeks to address this vital condensation in a way that is at once orderly and free. The building is hard and repetitive, closed on the street side and more open onto its inner courtyard. Made of mass concrete, it is softened by the different textures and colours it offers us: rougher and darker in contact with the ground, and smoother and lighter as it rises towards the sky. The mass is protected and controls its relationship with the sun by means of slats, awnings or blinds. In the academic spaces in particular, the architects try to achieve different degrees of brightness; the bedrooms must be able to be more opaque. The school is built almost entirely of concrete. The desired impeccably fine finish is a possible result, but usually one that needs attention and care. Martine Varlet, concrete technician and specialist in the treatment and aesthetic repair of façades, was responsible for this care.
Project Sheets
Project: ESMA École Supérieure des Métiers Artistiques and student accommodation, Montpellier
Typology: Arts university and student residence
Location: Montpellier, France
Architect: Josep Lluís Mateo, mateoarquitectura
Client: Campus Créatif
Design date: 2016-2018
Construction date: 2018-2021
Built surface area: 22,200 m2 (7,300 m2 school + 8,300 m2 student accommodation + 6,600 m2 car parking)
Architecture: Xavier Montclús Benoist Desfonds - Architect and Project Management, Julie Le Baud - Architect and Project Management, Raluca Desa - Architect and Project Management
Site programming, management and coordination: ARTEBA - Gilles Gal
Structures: BAC Engineering Group
Installations and sustainability: BET DURAND
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