Exhibition center Toulouse

OMA has won the competition to design the new Parc des Expositions (PEX) in the innovation zone of Toulouse, in southern France. PEX is conceived as a new gateway to the city and will host exhibitions, conferences, and concerts. The 338,000m2 project is designed to be a compact mini-city – an antidote to the sprawl of a standard exposition park, and a means to preserve the surrounding French countryside.

Surpassing three submissions by internationally-renowned competitors, the project, led by OMA's director of French projects Clément Blanchet, will be completed by 2016. Blanchet commented: "This project is not only about architecture, but rather infrastructure. It's a condenser for diversity, a machine that can promote an infinite amount of possibilities."

Rather than spreading across the entire available site – a patchwork of open fields and sporadic developments – OMA chose to designate a "virtuous" strip, 2.8 kilometers long and 320 metre wide, crossed by the RD902 highway. The strip will act as a zone for future developments and link the river Garonne at one extreme and the Airbus A380 factory on the other. In this strip, PEX is a 660 metre long, 24 metre high structure, both monumental in its horizontal scale and subtle in its overall impact.

credits

Architects: Competition, design development, OMA France (Rem Koolhaas and Clément Blanchet) / Exe, OMA (Rem Koolhaas, Ellen van Loon and Chris von Dijn)
Client: EUROPLIA
Nature of the operation: completion MOP law
Realised in: 2011-2020
Site: Toulouse, France
Program: Museum/ gallery 271,000 m2 (convention center, parking silo)
Budget: 250 Millions Euros
Exact Mission Executed: Associate Architect Design Director Contest Sketch APS, APD, PRO within OMA (competition and design development)

team composition

Local architects: PPA, TAA
Engineer: INGÉROP
Landscape: Batlle i Roig Arquitectes
Economy: DAL
Facade: Arcora
Scenography: dUCKS scéno
Lighting: 8'18"
Acoustic: DHV
Ergonomic: ABILIS
Signage: Base design