2015DpContemporary architecture_GB (PDF

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Contemporary architecture in
Languedoc-Roussillon
A Sud de France destination…
Naturally favoured…
www.destinationsuddefrance.com
Press file Contemporary Architecture in Languedoc-Roussillon
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Sud de France Développement Tourism Languedoc-Roussillon
Press Contacts:
Mélanie Boisset
Press Relations
Tel: +33 (0) 4 67 200 220
boisset@suddefrance-dvpt.com
Sophie Pellegrin-Ponsole
Deputy Director of Communication
Tel: +33 (0) 4 67 200 220
spp@suddefrance-dvpt.com
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Sud de France Développement – December 2014
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Contents
In the Cities
-
p. 5
Montpellier
Nîmes
Perpignan
La Grande Motte
Sète
For Culture
p. 22
- MRAC in Sérignan
- André Malraux Media Centre in
Béziers
- International Accommodation Centre
in Banyuls
- Rivesaltes Memorial Museum
- Musée de la Romanité in Narbonne
- Musée de la Romanité in Nîmes
In desacralized places
p. 25
- Cultural Centre of the Bayssan Estate
- Media Centre of the Abbey of Saint
Chinian
In the vineyards
p. 26
- Bastide d’Engras in Solan
- Winery in Latour de France
- Domaine de l’Arjolle in Pozoles
- Viavino in Saint Christol
- Wine Centre in Roujan
In the rural areas
p. 29
- Passerelle des Anges at the Pont du
Diable
- Maison de pays d’Hérault
- Bistrot de Pays in Taurinya
- Maison de l’Eau in Allègre les
Fumades
In the hotels
p. 31
- Domaine de Barres in Langogne
- La Chaldette Thermal Centre
Hotel Riberach in Bélesta
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Contemporary architecture in Languedoc-Roussillon:
A region of design and architectural daring
Between typical villages oriented towards the future and urban centres which combine the past,
present and future, Languedoc-Roussillon has chosen to be decidedly modern.
For several decades, renowned architects have placed their signatures on its great cities. The
Catalonian architect Ricardo Bofill remodelled the District of Antigone in Montpellier to give it a neoclassical touch and Claude Vasconi sheathed the Palais des Congrès with plaques of pink granite. The
designer Christian Lacroix gave the appearance of friendly monsters to the cars of one of the
tramlines of the regional capital.
In Nîmes, Norman Foster clothed the Carré d’Art in glass and steel. Philippe Starck has featured the
coat of arms of the city (the palm tree and the crocodile) on audacious street furniture. In the Roman
town, buildings signed by Jean Nouvel resemble ocean liners and more recently, in Montpellier, the
new City Hall and the showroom of the temple of contemporary design are his designs. The new
cultural centre L’Archipel in Perpignan, is also his creation! In Montpellier, the celebrated architect
Zaha Hadid signed the new building that houses the departmental archives, christened “Pierrevives”,
or “living stones”. Massimiliano Fukas designed the Georges Frêche School of Hotel Management.
Lozère, Jean-Michel Wilmotte “ruled” at La Chaldette thermal centre. Rudy Ricciotti and his
Passerelle des Anges, a suspended walkway for pedestrians at Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert, Anne
Gaubert and François Moget who designed the Musée de Sérignan around the sculptures of Daniel
Buren, and Michel Macary, called upon to leave his mark on the southward expansion of
Montpellier... in Languedoc-Roussillon, the great signatures of contemporary architecture dazzle the
eyes!
Projects that are always quite extraordinary
And that’s not all, because there are many more large-scale building projects! In Narbonne, the
celebrated Norman Foster has just signed the architecture of the future regional museum of ancient
Narbonne, due to open in two years. In Montpellier, the regional capital has embarked on an
ambitious design of twelve architectural “Folies” of the 21st century, echoing the smaller “folies” of
the 18th and 19th centuries which were the castles and mansions of the wealthy in Montpellier.
After the 11-storey tower of Farshid Moussavi at Port Marianne, comes the “White Tree” by the
Japanese architect Sou Fujimoto who has just been named the winner for the 17-storey Folie Richter.
These first two architectural complexes are planned for 2016-2017.
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Architects and festivals
In June every year, the Festival des Architectures Vives returns: the courtyards of the private
mansions of Montpellier are on display and highlighted by the work of a new generation of young
architects, landscape artists and city planners. For its 9th edition, le FAV will be held at La GrandeMotte, which in 2010, received the label of “Patrimoine du XXe siècle” (“20th Century Heritage”) from
the Ministry of Culture and Communication. As such, La Grande-Motte has become a destination that
is a perfect match for the festival, the objective of which is the discovery of the architectural heritage
of the region.
However, Languedoc-Roussillon is also a region with a culture of design which from now on asserts
itself more or less everywhere. Specialised boutiques in the city centres or on the outskirts, showrooms, restaurants, hotels and guest houses, on private beaches… make Languedoc-Roussillon a
privileged destination for amateurs of design.
In 2013, Montpellier hosted, for the second consecutive year, the Design Tour, an itinerant and local
event, where all the amateurs of design, creation and the art of living discover the best of French and
international young creativity, the latest products and trends of the season presented by places
which enable design to come alive in the heart of their territory. The next edition is planned for 2015.
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5
in the Cities
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Montpellier
Over the years, Montpellier has become one
of the leading areas for modern architecture
oriented towards the future. The greatest
architects Ricardo Bofill, Paul Chemetov, and
Claude Vasconi, through their creations, have
made Montpellier a leading destination for
contemporary architecture. Christian de
Portzamparc, Jean Nouvel, Zaha Hadid, and
Richard Meier, all honoured with the Pritzker
Prize, have signed their names on the urban
planning of Montpellier.
District of Antigone
Built in the eighties, the District of Antigone,
constructed on the grounds of a former
military barracks, is a pedestrian area one
kilometre long that connects the old town
centre with the River Lez, which empties into
the Mediterranean 8 km away.
This design by the architect Ricardo Boffil
wished to pay tribute to Antiquity with a
pronounced taste for symmetry and lines, the
effects of perspectives and the combination of
round and square planes. These spaces
suggest a return to the origins of the cultural
and
architectural
traditions
of
the
Mediterranean.
The size of the six plazas was defined
according to the geometric laws of proportion
and harmony and to the number of residential
units planned. In effect it is the law of the
golden mean which here governs the
relationship between the horizontal planes
and the sculptural components.
Architect: Ricardo Bofill
Completion date 2000
Halles Jacques Cœur
The Halles Jacques Cœur are located at the
transition between two emblematic districts
of Montpellier, the modern District of
Polygone in the North, with its clearly
urbanistic abstract architecture of the sixties
and the District of Antigone in the South
where, in contrast, the architecture reflects
classic iconography. This immediately
identifiable building reinterprets the tradition
of covered halls and marketplaces.
The façades blend transparency and
protection from the sun in such a way that the
different shops in the interior can be seen
from the outside. The atmosphere inside is
provided by the subtle interplay of shadow
and light.
Architect: Jean-Luc Laurion
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in the Cities
Port Marianne
Port Marianne is the very epitome of a 21st
century urban centre. This is a new district
where people work and relax, a living and
convivial world with terraces, parks and
esplanades...
Here, nature recaptures its space, its balance
and its harmony. By going through the
greenery of the Jardins de la Gironde, the
visitor can cross the Parc Marianne to get to
Place Ernest Garnier and its office centre with
complete services, as well as the Bassin
Jacques Cœur.
The District of Port Marianne is divided into
several joint development zones (ZACs):









Consuls de mer (Chief architect: Rob
Krier, in collaboration with Nicolas
Lebunetel)
Richter (designed by Adrien Fainsilber;
architect: René Dottelonde; landscape
artist: Michel Desvigne)
Jacques
Cœur
(Groupement
Archimède: Denis Bedeau, Philippe
Bonon, François Fontès, Antoine
Garcia Diaz)
Jardins de la Lironde (Chief architect:
Christian de Portzamparc ; landscape
artist: Michel Desvigne)
Parc Marianne (Chief architects:
Architecture-Studio and Imagine;
landscape artists: Michel Desvigne and
Carré Vert)
Rive gauche (Architect Pierre Tourre
and the consulting firm Tribu)
Portes de la Méditerranée - Odysseum
(Chief architect: Design International)
Hippocrate (Chief architect: Michel
Fremolle)
Eureka
(Chief
architect:
Rudy
Ricciotti).
City Hall
In 2011, the new City Hall of Montpellier,
designed by Jean Nouvel and François Fontès
opened its doors.
Built on the banks of the River Lez, it was
designed to be the most important building of
a port city, as Jacques Cœur had imagined it in
1440, and Mayor Pagézy at the end of the 19th
century.
In front is a vast forecourt, a real public plaza
covering 6,000 m², accommodates markets
and terraces, as well as a pond.
Architects: François Fontès & Jean Nouvel
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in the Cities
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A commercial area in Montpellier founded on
a designer’s art of living. Opening out onto a
park and an esplanade with a reflecting pool,
this half-buried building faces the new City
Hall. A succession of horizontal planes with no
decoration that is as sleek as the objects
presented.
Architect: Jean Nouvel
Pierrevives
This building, designed by the architect Zaha
Hadid, was constructed in the district of the
same name and houses the Department of
Hérault Archives, Media Centre and Sports
Centre.
On a piece of land of 10 hectares located at
the junction of La Paillade, Malbosc and Alco,
Pierresvives is a public service building.
Around the building, a new district including
houses, businesses, services, offices, activities
and equipment has sprung up.
Architect: Zaha Hadid
RBC Design Center
25 years after the creation of the first
showroom in Nîmes, Franck Argentin opened
the RBC Design Center, a concept store
covering 2,000 m² that was unique in France.
After Philippe Starck, Antonio Citterio,
Christophe Pillet and Piero Lissoni... Jean
Nouvel extended the adventure by designing
Le Nuage
The hallmarks of the Nuage project in
Montpellier are lightness, suspension and
transparency. Philippe Stark imagined four
suspended villages (for sports, fitness, an
aquagym and health services as well as a
public area with modular boutiques on the
ground floor) all in one ephemeral shape
which is at the same time extremely technical.
The Nuage is set on a hard, solid foundation
composed of opaque blocks. The transparency
of the exterior façades enables the villages,
the life, the dynamism and the movement in
the interior to be seen from the outside.
Architects: Philippe Starck – Christine Destenay
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in the Cities
La Panacée
Parc & Suites Arena
Residences for artists, exhibition rooms,
auditorium and café: the contemporary art
centre, La Panacée, was opened in 2013 in the
heart of Montpellier.
The Parc & Suites Arena can accommodate
the largest national and international sports
events in the best conditions, with room for
14,000 people.
This chic place is organised around a central
courtyard. A gallery rings the courtyard and
accommodates 4 exhibition rooms, a resource
centre and a 188-seat auditorium.
This contemporary modular facility, with
irreproachable acoustics and a total surface
area of 12,500 m² also includes a real
exhibition hall of 6,000 m².
Upstairs: 3 residences for artists and 59 rooms
for students.
Architect: Jean-Luc Laurion
The esplanade and the reception hall with its
exceptional
dimensions
enhance
the
atmosphere created by light and sound. The
great sail of glass that envelops the reception
hall is clearly identifiable by its visitors as well
as by the users of the motorway leading to the
Mediterranean.
Architect: A+ Architecture
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in the Cities
STAYING IN MONTPELLIER
Pullman Montpellier Centre ****
Gare Montpellier Saint Roch
The design of the new Gare Saint Roch was
guided by the concern to decongest the
station, and in so doing to facilitate the
development of rail traffic, improve
accessibility to the different forms of travel
(on foot, by bicycle, tram, bus, taxi, parking
links, regional and national trains), create
inter-district links and renew the urban image
of the train station.
The station consists of a great central hall
which provides a new covered walkway from
the Pont de Sète to the Pont de Lattes, giving
access to the platforms and services of the
Transit Centre. The platforms are lighted by
large skylights. Garden terraces with a variety
of species have been converted into pleasant
waiting areas outside.
Located in the heart of the historic centre and
the business district, the Pullman Montpellier
Centre ****, offers refined interior
decoration, the latest technologies and highrange services.
The hotel has 86 rooms ranging from classic,
high-quality and deluxe, as well as 2 suites, all
equipped with fine linens, specially adapted
connections, unlimited WiFi and interactive
television.
PULLMAN MONTPELLIER CENTRE ****
1, rue des Pertuisanes
34000 Montpellier
Tel: +33 (0)4 67 99 72 72
www.destinationsuddefrance.com/ClubBusiness
Architect: Jean-Marie Duthilleul
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in the Cities
Nîmes
Jealous of its past, Nîmes can also evoke the
present and in spite of its rich heritage, the
city is a fertile ground for the great names of
architecture who have constructed buildings
there which are landmarks, like those
erected by Jean Nouvel (Nemausus), Kisho
Kurokawa (the Stade des Costières), Philippe
Starck, Jean-Michel Wilmotte (Les Halles) and
especially the Carré d’Art, a daring building
by the British architect Norman Foster
constructed in the city-centre as a
contemporary art museum in 1993, echoing
the antique Maison Carrée located opposite.
The view between the arenas and the train
station has recently been brilliantly
renovated with light shows, restoring
harmony to these different architectures that
span twenty centuries. A symbiosis of the city
and this perpetual dialogue of the past and
the present.
Carré d’Art
Designed by the architect Norman Foster
facing the Maison Carrée, the Carré d'Art
includes a media centre and a contemporary
art centre. This elegant building of steel and
glass has managed to establish a dialogue with
the Roman temple, through the interplay of
shapes and sizes, while still forming part of the
architecture of its time. It pays tribute to its
prestigious opposite number without effacing
itself before it.
The building, organised into nine levels, is halfburied, which enables it to limit its height and
to conform to the scale of the surrounding
buildings. In the heart of the building, a
covered courtyard takes advantage of the
transparency of modern materials to allow
light to reach the interior. Stairways placed in
the courtyard, connect the levels that are
open to the public and enable access to the
shaded roof-terrace which overlooks a new
public plaza. This great pedestrian forecourt
which extends around the Maison Carrée is an
integral part of the building. It thus
contributes to redefining urban spaces and to
creating a new forum.
Architect: Norman Foster
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in the Cities
The Allées Jean-Jaurès
Axe Arènes / Esplanade / Feuchères
Designed in 1743, this thoroughfare, which
leaves from the Jardin de la Fontaine and ends
up at the railway, had fallen into disuse.
Launched in 2004, its renovation progressed by
sections and involved the projects of the
architect-designer Jean-Michel Wilmotte.
The entire project, designed and built by the
architect and urban planner Alain Marguerit and
his “Atelier des paysages”, aimed at enlarging
the historic centre of Nîmes by creating a
continuous urban area of eight hectares.
Following an overall plan to redesign the traffic
flow and reduce motorised traffic with the
widespread adoption of public transport, the
Allées Jean Jaurès opened up new spaces for
pedestrians.
Cycle paths, green spaces and pedestrian areas
have been given preference. Kiosks, tables with
benches and jets of water lend a very southern
“ramblas” (avenues) atmosphere while the
bushes that have been planted will not grow too
high in order not to hide the view. The old
hackberry trees have been preserved and
already we can see emerging the great ambition
of Nîmes for the future Champs Elysées: bringing
the people back to this historic route.
Architect: Jean-Michel Wilmotte
This operation focused on the periphery of the
amphitheatre, the Esplanade Charles de Gaulle
and the Avenue Feuchères, thus connecting the
Esplanade to the SNCF train station.
The first part of the project, inaugurated in 2007,
made it possible to redeem and enhance the two
thousand-year-old Roman amphitheatre. The
Esplanade, inaugurated in April 2012, includes a
real urban garden of nearly one hectare in the
middle of the city.
Avenue Feuchères has been made more pleasant
and amenable for pedestrians. It offers a
modernised lively area and a new entrance to
the city worthy of the heritage jewel which
awaits the visitor a few meters away. It is also a
link between l’Écusson and the southern part of
the city which is currently undergoing rapid
expansion.
Architect: Alain Marguerit
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La Paloma Concert Hall
Nemausus
Designed in 1987 by the architect Jean Nouvel,
the building known as Nemausus, in 2008
received the label “Patrimoine du XXème siècle”
(21st Century Heritage).
It is made up of two parallel buildings which
frame a courtyard bordered with plane trees,
close to the centre of Nîmes. These two vessels
of concrete and aluminium, built on pilings,
provide social housing with 114 flats, to which
space and light have been granted in generous
amounts.
To provide the apartments with the largest
space possible, the stairways have been placed
on the outside of the building. Each flat opens
onto both sides of the building: on one side, to
wide exterior decks extending the length of the
building and on the other side, to a private
balcony.
If La Paloma is an imposing building of 5,000 m²,
with 360° of equipment able to take charge of
the different phases of production and fitted out
with the latest digital technologies, it is above all
an open, friendly and colourful place, part of
which is decorated with vintage furniture and
the description of which is humorous and
relaxed.
This building was designed by Jean-Michel
Bertreux. Through its forms and its size, it
expresses creative energy, “pushes out the walls,
deforms them, lengthens them and projects
them into space…”
Architect: Jean Michel Bertreux (Cabinet Tetrarc)
The materials, used without modification, have
been borrowed from the industrial environment.
The external walls are covered with aluminium
plaques. The railings of the exterior decks
remind one of equipment from a building site.
The walls inside the flats are of bare cement.
Architect: Jean Nouvel
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in the Cities
And also...
Discover by chance in the streets the creations
of contemporary artists or architects.


The Place d’Assas and the fountain at
the Place du Marché by Martial Raysse.
 The Signal by Takis, a sculpture
completed in 1984 and set in the
courtyard of the City Hall.
 The Place du Chapitre, redesigned by the
French architects Dominique Pierre and
Philippe Ghezzi.
 The floor of the entrance hall of the
Ecole des Beaux-arts renovated by
Bernard Pagès.
 The bus shelter by Starck, created in
1987, a work of urban furniture in
sombre marble, featuring the emblems
of Nîmes: the crocodile and the palm
tree.
 Modernisations
by
Jean
Michel
Wilmotte: City Hall and the Musée des
Beaux-arts.
 Les Halles in Nîmes was upgraded and
modernised with the designs of JeanMichel Wilmotte.
 Nîmes owes to the Japanese architect
Kisho Kurokawa a complex of offices,
businesses and apartments known as Le
Colisée. Built in 1991 at the entrance to
the city, it was inspired by the Roman
amphitheatre.
The Stade des Costières and Le Parnasse: in
1989, the architects Vittorio Gregotti and Marc
Chausse chose to build English-style stadiums for
football and rugby matches.
STAYING IN NIMES
The Bastide de Fabrègues
At 800 meters from the Golf de NîmesCampagne, the Bastide de Fabrègues was built
in the heart of an olive orchard covering 10
hectares. The villa offers five suites and three
apartments. Completely air-conditioned, the villa
also offers a vast designer kitchen, a laundry, a
separate dining room, a living room with a large
bookcase, a bridge corner and comfortable
sofas. A designer sauna completes this velvet
setting, conducive to serenity and rest.
In the garden, a stone wall protects the intimacy
of our guests and circles the entire garden. The
swimming pool, in its stone haven, also provides
absolute security. An old orange orchard
harbours two large stone tables. The Bastide de
Fabrègues can accommodate five couples and
provides a double sofa-bed in each suite.
The Bastide de Fabrègues
4358, chemin d’Estagel
30 900 Nîmes
Tel.: +33 (0)4 66 70 10 55
contact@labastidedefabregues.fr
www.destinationsuddefrance.com/CerclePrestige
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in the Cities
Perpignan
A southern city, Perpignan with its winding
lanes of medieval charm and its palm trees in
the squares, offers a hospitable pleasant
lifestyle. However, here also, contemporary
architecture settling in little by little.
Théâtre de l’Archipel
Co-signed in 2011 by Béatrice Metra and Jean
Nouvel, the Théâtre de l’Archipel is a
colourful assembly made up of 8 islets linked
together by a sea of greenery. This area
dedicated to culture, is ultramodern and
modular. It is composed of 2 theatres: the
Grenat and the Carré.
The garnet is a symbol, the stone of
Perpignan, where the craftsmen have an
original way of working with jewels using the
"closed crimping" technique
Centre-del-Món District
The urbanistic and modern version of the
“Centre of the world of Salvador Dalí” train
station, the urban project of the Perpignan
train station, le Centre-del-Món, was
designed by L35 Arquitecto for the BarcelonaPerpignan high-speed rail line.
This district consists of 35 hectares of urban
transformations with as its centrepiece the
construction of the intermodal transit centre
where the train station is located. This vast
project of offices and businesses has
profoundly modified the districts located on
either side of the train station by offering a
vision of determined modernity.
The use of materials which evoke traditional
local architecture and the creation of a natural
Mediterranean
environment
respond
perfectly to the anchoring of the identity of
this archipelago in the urban landscape.
Theatre, dance, circuses, classical music,
contemporary music, music of the world,
songs, digital arts, all the performing arts of
the entertainment sector are represented,
along with the occasional festival.
Architects: Jean Nouvel & Béatrice Métra
Architect: L35 Arquitecto
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in the Cities
Palais des Congrès
Nestled in a magnificent treed park in the
middle of the city, the Palais des Congrès of
Perpignan, built in the seventies, has
undergone major renovations that have made
it unrecognisable.
Owing to the architect, Alain Sarfati, it
impresses today by its modern, luminous
architecture.
Spacious and functional, it covers 10,000 m² of
air-conditioned floor space on 7 levels and can
accommodate from 100 to 1,100 convention
delegates in its 2 auditoriums.
Architect: Alain Sarfati
STAYING IN PERPIGNAN
Hôtels Comfort & Quality Centre Del Món
Right in the heart of the new leisure and
business centre of Perpignan, the Comfort &
Quality Hotels are located at the Centre del
Món, the new complex of the Perpignan SaintAssiscle high-speed train station, near the
historic centre of the Catalonian city.
The contemporary interior design of the
hotels, luxurious and refined, emphasises
black and white in its 101 designer rooms, its
bar-lounge area and its entirely modular
seminar room.
On the second storey, under the slatted solar
photovoltaic roof of the Centre del Món, a
terrace of 250 m² equipped with a bar/ lounge
and comfortable chairs invites you to take
advantage of the pleasant Mediterranean
climate.
COMFORT & QUALITY HOTELS CENTRE DEL
MON *** & ****
35, boulevard Saint Assiscle
66000 Perpignan
Tel: +33 (0)4 11 64 71 00
www.destinationsuddefrance.com/Club-Business
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in the Cities
La Grande Motte
The architect, Jean Balladur, dedicated 30
years of his life to La Grande Motte. He was
able, thanks to the support of Pierre Racine,
to impose, over and above political and
economic pressures, his vision of the ideal
city.
Today, what marks La Grande Motte is the
aesthetic and architectural unity of a
complex that covers over 400 hectares. Jean
Balladur conceived and designed everything
at La Grande Motte: he provided the
template for the main buildings in each of
the districts of the city; he insisted on
planting trees throughout these districts, in
order to slow the dominant winds; he
calculated the width of the streets and traced
them according to the standards calculated
by Baron Haussmann; he also provided the
height of the pavements… He even designed
the urban furniture: a pyramid for electrical
transformers; traffic lights; lighting; signs...
Palais des Congrès
The building of the Palais des Congrès was
designed in such a way that its form indicates
the contents. It is made up of two buildings of
elliptical shape, each housing an auditorium.
The large auditorium of 500 seats borrowed
its proportions and its curves from the
theatres of antiquity. Its rounded lines were
also designed to allow the spherical
propagation of sound waves, which is why it
has excellent acoustics.
At the beginning of its short history, la
Grande Motte experienced campaigns of
acrimonious attacks. About 40 years after its
creation, even if stereotypes die hard, la
Grande Motte has now been redeemed.
Today the vegetation is mature, the trees
invade the avenues and the streets and,
sheltered
by
the
buildings,
the
Mediterranean species have prospered.
In 2011, la Grande Motte obtained the label
of “Patrimoine du XXème siècle” (21st
Century Heritage).
Architect: Jean Balladur
Beginning of construction 1967
The Grande Pyramide
La Grande-Motte, born of the sea and the sun,
expresses in its forms the duality of the Yin
and Yang, of man and woman. The Grande
Pyramide, a highly symbolic edifice of the
station, completed in 1975, is the synthesis of
it. Stretched up over more than fifteen
storeys, it draws an architectural border
between the two design forms of the station.
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in the Cities
On the western side, its curves announce the
rounded architecture of the "Conques de
Vénus", while the steep spur to the East
evokes the straight lines of the Levant.
Dominating the landscape, it also marks the
direction of the port for sailors.
The Passerelle des Lampadophores
La Grande Motte is equipped with 6 walkways
with very distinct personalities. That of the
Lampadophores constitutes the western gate
of the city. It welcomes visitors from Carnon
and the beach of Grand Travers. A finely
crafted work of art, it is adorned with
sentinels. The sculptures by Michèle Goalard
have nothing warlike about them. On the
contrary, the 12 masculine and feminine
figures carry… light! As if to welcome the
visitor to this city built to celebrate the day
star. The 6 walkways of La Grande Motte form
part of the traffic “strategy” developed by
Jean Balladur: pedestrians and cyclists only
very rarely encounter the throbbing motor of
a car.
Le Parador, le Couchant
Whoever has not strolled through the District
of Couchant cannot say that he knows La
Grande Motte. It is here that Jean Balladur
wished to set up a “feminine” district, where
the buildings would be round and smooth. He
imposed 2 main forms on the templates of the
buildings: the high curved Bishops’ crowns and
the conch-shells of Venus, undulating cement
forms cradling swimming pools and luxuriant
gardens in their welcoming arms.
The Passerelle Saint Jean
It is this walkway which enables the residents
of the district of Haute Plage to access the city
centre by spanning the departmental
motorway. The Passerelle Saint Jean is a
tribute to the sun. Jean Balladur wished to set
it according to “the celestial timekeeper”…
How did he do that? Every year at the same
time, on June 21st, the day of the summer
solstice, the oculus in between the two pillars
of the walkway traces a perfect circle on the
ground: the walkway is thus on time according
to heaven!
Place du 1er octobre 1974 (plaza of the 3
state powers)
Just like Brasilia, the capital of Brazil, designed
by Oscar Niemeyer, Jean Balladur wanted to
provide the 3 powers with their place at La
Grande Motte. In fact, it hosts: spiritual power
in the Church of Saint Augustin; temporal
power in the City Hall and the power of the
people in the cultural centre, the Théâtre de
Verdure. At the centre of this building is a
beautiful plaza with a fountain designed by
Jean Balladur himself.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
18
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
in
onthe
theCities
coast
The Point Zéro
A symbolic building of the nascent Grande
Motte, the Point Zéro was completed in 1967,
even before the first inhabitants arrived at La
Grande Motte. At the time, it constituted an
important nerve centre for the city. It is at
once a place of social (cafés and restaurants
are found there), economic (boutiques) and
institutional (police station, school, post
office) life. The building, designed by Jean
Balladur, is a strong architectural gesture,
composed of parabolas and ellipses suggesting
an immense fish on the sand of the beach.
STAYING AT LA GRANDE
Hotel le Méditerranée***
MOTTE
Right in the heart of La Grande Motte, the
Hotel Le Méditerranée is located 15 minutes
away from Montpellier and 30 minutes away
from Nîmes.
The Hotel Le Méditerranée with 3 stars offers
37 rooms including 3 suites and 2 rooms with
access for people with reduced mobility as
well as its restaurant “Le Prose”.
Ideal for discovering La Grande Motte on foot
or by bicycle.
Hotel le Méditerranée***
277 Allée du Vaccarès
34280 La Grande-Motte
Tel: 04 67 56 53 38 (Hotel)
www.destinationsuddefrance.com/ClubBusiness
hotel-le-mediterranee@wanadoo.fr
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19
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
in the Cities
Sète
Positioned on the deep blue sea, this fishing
port, often called "the singular island", has a
cultural identity that is as strong as it is
colourful.
Architect: Lorenzo Piqueras
If it is often compared with Venice and its
many canals, Sète has also incorporated a
very contemporary dimension in its urban
architecture.
The "Le Don Quichotte"
Regional Contemporary Art Centre
On the edge of the Canal du Rhône in Sète,
the "Don Quichotte" project began on the day
that the Village Center Company, contractor
and art collector, decided to construct an
office building of 6,000 m² including their
head office.
Located on the docks, the LanguedocRoussillon Regional Contemporary Art Centre
lies on the pathways of artistic communication
which cross from Italy to Spain, from North to
South, from the Orient to the Occident.
In this place are mixed together a canal with
its boats of faded colours, the remainders of
flourishing enterprises from the early 19th
century as well as retail businesses set up in
old wineries of cold stone.
The location of the building in the heart of
Sète, the raw quality exuded by this place, its
large shape recalling the memory of its
original purpose (a centre for fish freezing and
conservation), makes it an original location of
high quality. Its architecture allows it to hold
several exhibitions at the same time, to
encourage the production of works in the
region by hosting artists in residence and to
design works on the scale of the exhibition
space.
Architect: Atelier Patrick Vidal Architecte,
Florence Paulet-Cusy
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
20
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
in the Cities
Les Halles
Social housing
Located at the northern entrance of the old
town, near the commercial port, this housing
project offers three blocks of flats, set up on
ground floor bases which accommodate
businesses and parking for pedestrians. These
blocks provide flats for housing and respond
to the specific landscape of the commercial
port while taking advantage of the views. The
social housing block provides a transition from
the existing buildings around it and is
therefore located at the centre of this project.
The block on the street corner marks the
entrance to the old town while also looking
out over the commercial port facilities and the
future development of the old docklands. The
blocks are also the expression of a
“Mediterranean architecture” in step with
lifestyles that are adapted to this climate:
outdoor living protected from the intense
heat.
Architects: Colboc Franzen
&
Associés
Even if nostalgia for the old Baltard-style
covered markets might have offered a
solution, Sète could not be happy with a
contemporary version of this model. The spirit
and genius of the place and of its inhabitants
had to be reflected.
Through
its
materials,
colours
and
transparency, the façade is undoubtedly the
most expressive element of the building.
Structural imaging, interplays of shadow and
light associated with the transparency of the
main façade, the weaving of a fine steel mesh:
the metallic wave of a moving fishnet recalls
the plastic presence of the sea, the nets of the
little boats and the trawlers brining in
gleaming fish; it pays tribute to the men of the
sea.
Thanks to their new features, les Halles now
ensures the radiance of this identity, the goal
being to see not only flows of the people of
Sète, but also flows of people from the whole
region and of the many passers-by attracted
by a contemporary place anchored in
tradition.
Architect: François Fontès
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
21
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
in the Cities
on the coast
The Corniche
In Sète, the Corniche is the equivalent of the
Promenade des Anglais in Nice or the
Croisette in Cannes! This Promenade was not
in keeping with the magnificent maritime
landscape, nor with the botanical quality
identified by the environmental study. The
design concepts consisted of reducing the
roadway to a width of 5.75 meters in order to
slow down the cars and of creating a two-way
cycle path on the site and a real pedestrian
promenade.
"Maritime terraces" and "marine balconies"
came to complement the pedestrian path. The
site was classed "Natura 2000" and a great
deal of work was dedicated to the choice of
plants for the landscaping which must resist
sea spray and even the waves.
Architect: Olivier Kauffmann
Livraison 2005
STAYING IN SETE
Grand Hôtel***
Opposite the Canal Royal, the Grand Hotel has
the comfortable appearance of the bourgeois
constructions of the Second Empire.
Endowed with a magnificent plaza under a
glass canopy which allows the diffusion of the
beautiful light of Sète , three storeys of
passageways lead to the rooms, all different,
with refined decoration, and a view on the
canal or on the serene plaza.
43 rooms: 1 suite, 12 twin rooms and 30
double rooms.
A restaurant (with 70 covered seats): Quai 17.
The chef, Jean Pascal Hamet, reinterprets
Mediterranean cuisine and proposes to you to
savour gourmet moments around a table of
local products.
LE GRAND HOTEL
17, quai Maréchal de Lattre de Tassigny
34200 Sète
Tel: +33 (0) 4 67 74 71 77
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
22
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
for Culture
MRAC in Sérignan
André Malraux Media Centre
On a floor space of 2,500 m² in an old wine
cellar,
the
Musée
Régional
d'Art
Contemporain of Sérignan presents a
permanent collection of nearly 300 works
made up essentially of donations from
contemporary artists.
The André Malraux Media Centre of Béziers
includes a library, a multi-media area, an
auditorium, an exhibition room, a plaza and a
pub.
This museum owes much to Daniel Buren,
author of multi-coloured triangles placed on
the large picture windows of the building, thus
dialoguing with its "Cabane éclatée aux
caissons lumineux colorés" (“Exploded cabin
with coloured light boxes”) located in the
heart of the museum.
Beyond the exhibition areas in natural light,
the museum includes a graphic arts
department, a video room, a bookstore and
especially, workshop-laboratories that host a
youthful public. A splendid ceramic fresco of
40 m² dedicated to the glory of the "Femmes
Fatales", donated by the Icelandic artist Erró,
decorates the external façade of the museum.
This project has given to the city a cultural and
interactive link that is open to all; a unifying
edifice for a new urban area, the great plaza
of July 14 within the Du Guesclin area; a
contemporary building of high performance
and HEQ (high environmental quality).
Architects:
Jean-Michel
Wilmotte
(in
collaboration with Anne Gaubert & François
Moget)
Architects: Anne Gaubert & François Moget –
completion date 2006
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
23
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
for Culture
The international accommodation centre
at Banyuls-sur-Mer
For over a century, the researchers of the
Arago Laboratory in Banyuls-sur-Mer have
been studying the fauna and flora of the
natural marine reserve “Cerbère-Banyuls”.
Located on the seafront, the construction
continues the existing topography: the sky,
the land, and the horizon. It recreates the
relationship between the street and the
landscape, accompanying the shape of the
town. Its ochre colour originates from the
surrounding hills and in the nature of the land
which builds the cultivated terraced slopes of
the back-country. Facing the sea, these coasts
planted with vineyards are marked by the iron
oxides which irradiate the earth with a deep
ochre colour.
The other characteristic of this project resides
in its technical quality. Apart from the
construction of the latticed façade using
simple, reliable interlocking techniques, the
building is entirely heated and cooled by a
sea-water pump. Beyond matter, the
international accommodation centre of
Banyuls-sur-Mer forms part of a poetic and
scientific approach that reveals the landscape.
Rivesaltes Memorial Museum
The building is a cement monolith (230m X
30m and 4m high) buried on the Esplanade of
block F (42 hectares) surrounded by the
shacks and equipment of the period; the roof
of this building is flush with the natural level
of the land at the entrance. It is pierced with
great horizontal windows that provide
overhead lighting for 3 subterranean patios;
lateral ramps enable the visitor to descend
towards the threshold of the entrance.
Integration in a severe landscape and a
gridded environment and discretion for an
architecture that evokes wars and suffering:
such were the requirements which presided
over the design of this form which is harsh and
monumental, but completely humanised
within.
Rudy Ricciotti designed a sensitive,
uncompromising architecture, which is
consistent with the emotional and intellectual
challenges of the contents that it presents to
visitors - the citizens of Europe.
Architect: Rudy Ricciotti
Architect: Atelier Fernandez & Serres
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
24
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
for Culture
Musée de la Romanité in Narbonne
The Musée de la Romanité will be a new
landmark at the gates of the city of Narbonne,
on a site near the Canal de la Robine.
The landscaping strengthens the relationship
with the water to create a natural peaceful
setting. Inspired by the French gardens and
the Roman courtyards, the features of the
museum include an amphitheatre for outdoor
displays and events.
The building includes galleries for permanent
and temporary exhibitions, an information
centre, a multimedia centre and library, as
well as areas for restaurants and storage
facilities.
Architect: Norman Foster
Musée de la Romanité in Nîmes
Set in the heart of Nîmes, the future Musée
de la Romanité will dialogue with the Roman
arena, one of the most beautiful
amphitheatres in the world. More than a
cultural facility, it is destined to become one
of the emblems of the city of Nîmes. It will be
open to the public in 2017.
After an international competition, the project
selected was that of Elisabeth and Christian
de Portzamparc, two French signatures which
are among the greatest names in architecture
and urban planning. Here, they have signed a
project which “radiates with a clear, luminous
presence, an almost fluid and diaphanous
architecture which seems to be floating over
the site and the archaeological garden”.
Architect: E & C de Portzamparc
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
25
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
In sacred places
Bayssan Estate Cultural Centre
Media centre in the Abbey of St Chinian
The project consisted of renovating the
Romanesque architecture of the church of
Saint Félix de Bayssan (Hérault), desacralized
and in disuse, into a place to host cultural
events:
exhibitions,
readings
and
performances of theatre and musical groups.
In Hérault, Saint Chinian is located on the
"route" of abbeys founded during the
Romanesque era (11th and 12th centuries). The
rehabilitation of the abbey aimed essentially
at re-using the historic centre of Saint Chinian,
both the heritage structures as well as the
public areas.
A vast forecourt was created as an outdoor
reception area: the visitor is led from the
ticket office to the chapel by a ramp flanked
with a ribbon of steel in a rust colour which
blends with the limestone construction.
Architecte MDR Architectes
The completed project is a demonstration of a
contemporary touch to a building of
undeniable historical interest that respects
the structure and gives it a new life through
new uses.
Architect: Atelier d'Architecture Emmanuel
Nebout
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
26
in the Vineyards
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Bastide d’Engras in Solan
Latour de France winery
After the Roman builders and the Cistercian
monks, the nuns of Solan chose the local
stone of Gard for the winery of the Bastide
d’Engras in Gard. An ecological material
signed by the architect Gilles Perraudin.
The project of the winery and the vintners’
house in Latour de France in the Eastern
Pyrenees was designed as a unique entity. The
building is constructed entirely of solid stone
that is 50 cm thick, originating from the
quarries of the Pont-du-Gard, similarly to the
structures which have marked their era and
also history.
The colonnaded winery of the orthodox
community of Solan was set up in the
scrubland of Gard, with its enormous blocks
cut from the quarry stone and fitted together
using the “dry-jointing” technique. A short
distance away is the quarry, which has been
worked for thousands of years, this stone
which defies time and has proven to be a
choice ecological material. It was precisely this
that attracted the nuns of Solan, an orthodox
community very committed to ecology which
turned to farming and then to wine
production and today produces a range of
high quality wines.
The stone offers here its many qualities:
durability, heat resistance, natural material
without any chemical additive, which, for the
preparation of a great wine as well as for the
occupants, is primordial.
Architects: Perraudin Architecture & Elisabeth
Polzella
Architects: Perraudin Architecture & Elisabeth
Polzella
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
27
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
in the Vineyards
Domaine de l'Arjolle in Pouzolles
Viavino in Saint Christol
Louise-Marie Tesserenc, a vintner at the head
of the family estate, the Domaine de l'Arjolle,
called on the Montpellier architect, Bruno
Lapostat, who had signed several wineries in
the Region, in particular one with barrels at
the Saint-Jean du Noviciat Estate, also the
wine cellar of the Canet-Valette Estate in
Cessenon sur Orb (Hérault).
Designed by Philippe Madec, precursor of
sustainable architecture, Viavino is dedicated
to wine-tasting, relaxation, sports and the
discovery of grapevines and wine: visits to the
winery-boutique, initiation to the matching of
wines and meals and wine-tasting workshops
for novices and experts.
The Arjolle wine cellar, with its winery full of
barrels and open to the outside, allows the
sunlight to filter in at certain times of the day.
Domaine de l’Arjolle
34480 Pouzolles
Tel.: 04 67 24 81 18
www.arjolle.com
Architect: Bruno Lapostat
Viavino has produced a sustainable Southern
rurality by layouts which blend interiors and
exteriors, the pleasant shade of summer,
façades in the winter sunshine, and protection
from the winds.
Accompanying the architecture, the landscape
hugs the terrain. It comforts the strong will of
the project: create a place to live that is
shared. It displays the history of the vineyard
and its practices as an ampelographic system.
A choice of local materials and indigenous
plant varieties extend the vast landscape
already present.
Wine tourism centre
80 Chemin de Vérargues
34400 Saint-Christol
Architect: Philippe Madec
Completion date: 2013
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
28
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
in the Vineyards
Wine-making Centre in Roujan
The Château-abbaye de Cassan is set between
two hills, where it dominates a Mediterranean
landscape composed of a mosaic of vineyards,
scrubland and woods. Even if it is not really
visible from the grounds of the future Winemaking Centre, its presence, poetic as well as
physical, is palpable.
Anchorage point for the Corporate Wellness
Center project, of which the Wine-making
Centre is an extension, the château became
for the territory an essential element of social
and economic life, thus reintegrating the
contemporary world.
The future CWC hotel is slightly lower and it
obscures the view of the château. This is the
challenge of this project: to imagine an
architecture
which
responds
in
a
contemporary way to the château while taking
into account an environment constructed on
the periphery of the village, essentially
composed of villas.
Architect: Hérault Arnod Architectes
STAYING AT A WINE-MAKING ESTATE
Château Haut Gléon
Château Haut Gléon is located in the heart of
Corbières, in the vineyard with the appellation
of the same name. Its lands cover 260
hectares of forests and scrublands and 35 ha
of vineyards of the Corbières appellation
(AOP) and the PGI “Vallée du paradis”...
The château offers 5 guest rooms and 1
guesthouse, 3 of which are prestige guest
rooms (ranked with 4 ears of corn by the
guide “Gîtes de France”) as well as two other
rooms in the typical, authentic outbuildings of
Mediterranean habitats. “The house of the
grape-pickers” offers 3 other double rooms
with 3 individual bathrooms.
On-site: parks, gardens, large swimming pool
measuring 17x7 meters with a breathtaking
view over the surrounding Mediterranean
landscapes, tour of the estate, wine-tasting
with commentaries, departure point for hiking
and mountain-bike trails.
Château Haut Gléon
11360 Villesèque des Corbières
Tel. 04 68 48 85 95 - 06 40 38 92 95
www.destinationsuddefrance.com/ClubOenotourisme
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
29
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
in the Vineyards
Maison de Pays in Hérault
Passerelle des Anges of the Pont du Diable
The construction of the footbridge of the Pont
du Diable by Rudy Ricciotti forms part of the
development project of the classified site of
the Pont du Diable (Bridge of the Devil), in the
gorges of the River Hérault.
It was a “Grand Site de France” operation. With
a span of 67.5 meters for a height of 1.80
meters, or a slenderness ratio of 1/38, the
footbridge of the Pont du Diable is a world
record. Located at the exit of the River Hérault
from the gorges, classified as a “Grand site de
France”, the footbridge can be considered the
antithesis of its medieval cousin, the Pont du
Diable. This is how it was named, passerelle
des Anges... (Footbridge of the Angels)
Architect: Rudy Ricciotti
In the district of Caylar, on the side of the
motorway A 75 near the Viaduct of Millau, the
Maison de Pays de l'Hérault completes the
maintenance centre put into service in 1995.
Constructed at the foot of the Causse du
Larzac, the buildings have the ochre and grey
tones of the rocky mounds of Roc-Castel which
overlook them. The shapes are compact, the
openings rare. The thick walls, with high
inertia, are a response to the large
temperature fluctuations of the local climate.
Enclosing the building North and South are two
galleries covered with screens of red cedar
slats that lead to the restaurant and the
boutique of the service station.
Architect: Emmanuel Nebout
Completion date1998
Bistrot de pays in Taurinya
An area for encounters and conviviality in
Taurinya in the Eastern Pyrenees, this Bistrot
de pays expresses its attachment to the site by
its foundation of stones assembled from the
property and by its metal sheathing,
weathered over time, symbolic of the mining
activities of the 18th century which contributed
to the development of the village. Its façade of
transparent glass reflects modernity and the
exceptional light of this site.
Architect: Philippe Dubuisson
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
30
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
in the Vineyards
STAYING IN THE
Château le Bouïs
The Maison de l'Eau in Allègre les
Fumades
The wine cellar of Allègre les Fumades is a
building stamped with its past. It is thus
important to express the meeting of an
architecture that is full of history with an
architecture that is contemporary. This building
enables a dialogue among the different
infrastructures that it hosts: the town hall, the
tourism office, a room for special events and
rooms for permanent and temporary
exhibitions.
In response to the stone façade of the wine
cellar, the extension was designed as a simple,
sober shape, creating a contrast and a dialogue
between the two structures. The façade of the
new building also opens entirely onto the
thermal centre.
RURAL
AREAS
At the gates of the Massif de la Clape, in the
District of Gruissan, the Château le Bouïs
benefits from an ideal location with a view of
the sea and the vineyards. The Maison de
Maître, called “la Maison des Demoiselles“, has
been completely renovated and sumptuously
decorated in an antique atmosphere. It offers 2
rooms and 2 suites, one of which has a balcony
offering a 360° view of the sea, the Massif de la
Clape and the Pyrenees. With a more rustic,
bucolic decor, the old house of the registrar
welcomes its guests for a moment of
authenticity.
Complementing its accommodation with a
restaurant and seminar room, the estate offers
convivial tasting of its wines and a discovery
tour of the estate. According to the season,
cultural and musical events come to enliven
the estate. Its location, close to the village of
Gruissan, makes many forms of leisure easily
accessible: balneotherapy, beaches, hiking
trails on foot and on horseback in the heart of
the Massif de la Clape, cycling and also casinos,
theatre…
Château Le Bouïs
Route Bleue
11430 Gruissan
Tel.: +33 (0)4 68 75 25 25
www.destinationsuddefrance.com/Cercle-Prestige
Architect: Jean-Pierre Duval
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
31
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
in the hotels
Domaine de Barres in Langogne
La Chaldette Thermal Centre
In the heart of Margeride, the Domaine de
Barres is the fruit of an unusual marriage of
architectures between a 17th century building
and a creation of a very contemporary design.
Designed by Jean-Michel Wilmotte, the
architecture of the La Chaldette Thermal
Centre, located on the banks of the River Bès,
melts into the plains of Lozère.
Entirely designed by Jean-Michel Wilmotte,
the Domaine de Barres offers twenty rooms
opening out onto the park. In its extension, an
elegant oblong shape, are the gastronomic
restaurant, conference rooms, indoor
swimming pool and club-house, the departure
point for the 9-hole golf course.
After boiling-hot baths, massages and
relaxing, toning showers, the visitor can rest
behind the immense picture windows opening
out onto the Valley of the Bès: swimming
pool, solarium, gymnasium, leisure area,
sauna and hammam.
In all the rooms, Jean Michel Wilmotte has
signed the furniture specifically designed for
this place, made entirely by the cabinetmakers of Lozère. Through the wooden
shutters, the conference area, the indoor
swimming pool and the sauna open out onto a
panoramic view of the ancestral park.
Completion date: 1994
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
32
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
in the hotels
Cave hotel restaurant Riberach in Bélesta
Located in the district of Bélesta in the Eastern
Pyrenees, the former cooperative wine cellar
of the village, abandoned for a decade, was
purchased in 2007 by a couple of architects,
Karin Pühringer and Luc Richard.
The building of 4,800 m², built in 1925 into a
hillside, is half-buried on the South side, with
walls of local stone. The old wine vats located
at the garden level were cast in cement, which
provides the building with a very high thermal
inertia. A system of heating and cooling is
provided by geothermal collectors. Six probes
were placed at a depth of 92 meters under the
cellar to capture the subterranean heat (17°C).
A horizontal collector of 480 m² under the
bathing pool completes the system.
The architects undertook to restructure the
old wine cellar into a wine tourism complex
consisting partly of a hotel-restaurant in the
oldest wineries (7 suites and 11 rooms) and
partly of the wine cellars of the Riberach
estate (organic production).
ACCOMMODATION
Eulogy to languor at Riberach
Take the time to see and smell things, to feel
them and finally come to understand them.
Understanding the history of the place and its
architecture. Listening and hearing. No longer
asking oneself any questions and just
appreciating.
Fine programme in view. In short,
A philosophy of life!
- One night for 2 in a double room “In the
Vats” with breakfast included and a bottle of
wine to welcome guests in every room.
- Dinner with meals matched to wines.
- A visit to the wine cellar with tasting of the
Riberach wines.
Hotel RIBERACH****
2a Route de Caladroy
66720 Bélesta
Tel: 33 (0)4 68 50 30 10
www.destinationsuddefrance.com/Cercle-Prestige
Architect: Luc Richard – Arch & Coop
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
33

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