OMA’s new MEETT Exhibition and Convention Centre in Toulouse has recently opened. The masterplan was created as an active strip, forming a physical border between urban development and countryside. The project was made to help organize an integrated development approach for the city.
The scheme of the exhibition and convention center is organized into three parallel bands. The project is 155,000 m2 and consists of exhibition halls, a convention center, a multi-function event hall, a car park silo for 3,000 cars and a transportation hub with a new tram station. A 700-meter long exhibition hall is set to the north, a convention center and event hall to the south, and a reception and circulation zone below a car park silo in the center. Between the three expo buildings outside there are plenty of public spaces.
“This project was an opportunity to develop an architectural design which relates to all scales. The masterplan is inspired by the efficiency of the surrounding infrastructure, the openness and horizontality of the rural landscape and the scale of the adjacent hangars, while each of the individual buildings is designed as a unique functional and flexible machine.”, said OMA.
The development is the third largest parc des expositions in France outside of Paris.
https://www.archdaily.com/948607/omas-new-toulouse-exhibition-and-convention-centre-opens-in-france
Photo by © Marco Cappelletti