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Montpellier

Grisettes Eco-neighbourhood

On agricultural land served by Montpellier tramway Line #2, the ZAC des Grisettes accommodates 1,500 housing units only 10 minutes from the city centre. An estate under a  canopy of pine trees, the Grande Rambla des Grisettes connects the tram stop to the Mas Nouguier agriparc vineyards adjacent to a housing estate open onto the horizon.

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comprehensive and multidisciplinary approach to sustainable development
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Under the pines and vines, an art of living in a densely populated neighbourhood.

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Elsewhere, more intimate pathways accommodate affordable housing with private gardens and patios.

The site plan gives attention to solar input. The Grisettes neighbourhood benefits from excellent bioclimatic conditions.

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With underground car parks, the car is absent from the public place enabling extensive provision of pedestrian spaces.

Initially planted solely with pines as the Mas Nouguier Park alley, the Grande Rambla has been the redeveloped with a diverse mix of plants which combines the pines with Montpellier maples.

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In addition to the pedestal buildings of the Grande Rambla with their continuous balconies, three other urban forms punctuate the neighbourhood:

 - boulevard frontage: this form plays off the language of density and comfort, flats with facades overlooking the tram stop and clinic. Smooth elevation with capped volume, private and public gardens, it delimits the neighbourhood boundary;

- farmhouses: more internal, the farmhouses are an architecture of continuous balconies forming an elevation around an attractive public garden in contrast with the private gardens; and

- vineyards: expressed in the site centre linked to the agriparc, the vineyards are part of the slope and play the affordable housing card with entrances and extensively planted public places.

 

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Status

2003 competition winner - 2010-21 completion

Location

Quartier des Grisettes / Montpellier (34)

Strategic planner

SERM

Commission

Estate design + architectural coordination + public spaces landscape architect

Programme

130,000m² housing units + 2,000m² shops + 20,000m² clinic

Area

14,5 ha

Cost

14 M€

Architect/Urban designer

Richez_Associés

Consulting engineers

Ingérop

Lighting designer

Agathe Argod - Scène Publique

Certification

Label ÉcoQuartier 2015, remis par le Ministère du Logement, de l’Egalité des territoires et de la Ruralité

Awards

Prix ÉcoQuartier 2011, thème «Nature en ville»

Photographer

Vincent Vidal + Xavier Boymond + Dronestudio