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Architects: Emma Blanc Paysagiste, ppa architectures
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Photographs:Philippe Ruault, Airimage
Text description provided by the architects. Maïmat square, located in the northern neighborhood of Muret (31 Toulouse), was designed on the model of the “Grands Ensembles” which were favored in the 1960s. The impermeable ground surface is the domain of car parks and permanent traffic flows. Large, ribbon-like buildings are placed around the outside of the site, enclosing it in on itself. At the heart of the complex, a shopping center has been progressively underused in this impoverished neighborhood.
Committed to revitalizing the district, Promologis initiated an urban renewal project in close collaboration with the town of Muret and the project management team. Started in 2011, the site was the subject to an “opération tiroir”, consisting of both demolition and reconstruction to rehouse the local residents in situ. Phase 1 " Maïmat South " was delivered in 2014, while work on Phase 2 "Maïmat North" finished at the end of 2018.
Today, the whole project is articulated around a large wooded area, within which eight residential blocks are located. A public square to the south accommodates an open-air market and a row of shops that is situated at the foot of the shared ownership building. Formerly focused in on itself and totally impermeable, the site is now open and porous. Around the inhabited plots, wooded islets promote the identity of the new neighborhood, which is perceived as a landscaped public park, wooded and inhabited.
A footpath and cycleway reconstitute the link between the old center and the north of Muret on a North-South axis. A new road allows for an East-West crossing and rationally reorganizes local traffic flows towards the exterior of the neighborhood. The pedestrianized central square hosts a weekly market, shops, and premises for associations on the ground floor of buildings… Spaces that can animate this welcoming residential neighborhood. The architectural project seeks to respond to potential buyers "desire for a house", by proposing a close rapport with the outside and a strong link to nature.
The dream image of a house is mainly associated with the desire to own a balcony, a garden or have a wide view of the sky and thereby create a strong link with nature. The superposition of dwellings, characterized by their double height loggia of planted balconies, gives the feeling of a "house" and creates the image of an "immeuble-villa ". The housing benefits from both the qualities of an apartment (practical, economical and comfortable) and the qualities of an individual house (interior-exterior continuity, generous and appropriable exterior space, a strong link with nature...).
