Toulouse, Colomiers: green shot on the Silver Pyramids
The Grand Prix regional des Pyramides d’argent was awarded to the troglodyte dwellings of the Respiration residence, from the promoter Marignan, in Les Ramassiers. A list of winners that also put the emphasis on ecology.
You had to dare. Promoter Marignan Occitanie and Toulouse architect Pascal Merz did it. To develop restricted land in the ZAC des Ramassiers, straddling the towns of Colomiers and Toulouse, near railways and the bus station, they used the concept of troglodyte houses. The Respiration residence, and its 86 apartments, are backed by a kind of wooded mound which protects against noise and visual pollution. The Pyramides d’Argent jury, a sort of Oscar for private property development, awarded its regional Grand Prix to this Respiration residence, which represents the region at national level.
“The wooded hill completely protects the inhabitants from the view and the noise of trains, all the dwellings are oriented to the south towards a central clearing of 8,000 m2 out of the 11,000 of the land”, specifies Pascal Merz, the architect of the AMPM firm. . Housing (70% of T3 to T5) delivered in June 2023 all already sold, with half of the owner-occupiers and an average price (4,050 euros per m2 including parking, 2,950 in controlled price), lower than the average of the agglomeration.
A rather green track record
The Silver Pyramids designate the most remarkable achievements of the year. In 2022, the jury, made up of Annette Laigneau, deputy mayor of Toulouse and vice-president of Toulouse Métropole in charge of urban planning, partner decision-makers (EDF, Toulouse Métropole Habitat, Grouping of prescription manufacturers, banks, offices d’études…) and specialized journalists, painted green the gray concrete and pink brick of Toulouse. Nature in the city but also ecological sobriety and zero net artificialisation were at the heart of the deliberations and the vote. We talked about trees, vegetable gardens, gardens, shared greenhouses, revegetation of industrial wastelands, but also urban heating network, heat pump, photovoltaic panels. The Natura residence (Premium Promotion), a hundred units with straw walls, in Toulouse, received the jury’s Coup de Coeur.
The Malepère (Urbis) social residence, the third achievement in the Occitanie region to obtain the very rare BBCA label, has been awarded the low-carbon building pyramid. Casual (Sporting Promotion), at Les Ramassiers, that of Industrial Innovation for its individual housing right down to their facade (Edouard François, architect). Ariane (Urbis) received the Bim (3D design) and Data, Vivre Ensemble (Saint-Agne Immobilier) prize for responsible work management for its low-rent strategy senior residence in the Cité district. Blanche in Izards, Res’Pyr (AFC Promotion) that of the societal impact for its mixed neighborhood project in Muret integrating a socio-educational establishment for autists, while Vitesco (Bouygues Immobilier) in Basso Cambo obtained the Pyramide de l’ real estate business. Prizes awarded on Tuesday September 20 during a gala evening at the Domaine de Preissac in Catelmaurou.