Vitesco Offices

Program : New construction of an office building
Localisation : Toulouse 31
Client : Bouygues Immobilier
Architect : TAA Toulouse | Head of project : Cécile Esparbès | Head of construction : William Saieb, Paco Giuliani, Eve Ferrettini

Surface : 9 485 m² 
Cost : 11,5 M€
Delivery date : February 2022
Environmental Certification : Certification NF HQE^TM tertiary buildings / Label E+C- /  Label BBCA Excellence

Distinction : Pyramides d'Argent FPI Occitanie 2022

Photographer : Roland Halbe
Architectural Visualisation : L'Atelier des Chimères

The project’s plot is situated to the Southwest of Toulouse, near the Mirail area, on the Basso Cambo business park. It is in the block formed by the streets Rue Paulin Talabot and Avenue du Général De Croutte. Green spaces are dotted across this estate and found principally in its car parks and at property boundaries. These green islands are grouped in the form of parks or denser zones, this natural element contributing to the quarter’s environmental qualities.

The building’s U-shape allows the creation of a ‘protected’ pedestrian space, acting both as an interior courtyard and as an entrance forecourt. Equally, this space participates in the defining the volume’s function and how it is read. Access is maintained from the shared plot allowing the creation of a path for users to cross the project. Parking is concentrated in the metal structure multi-storey block, which gives the Vitesco campus a more urban look, being positioned on the other side of the road, facing the main entrance.

The volume’s U-shape facilitates flow within the project. The main entrance gives access to the building’s central block. This serves – on each side – two additional office wings. The volume contains three levels above the ground floor. Access to upper floors is by way of the circulation cores situated at the junction with each of the building’s wings.
The surrounding outdoor spaces are landscaped to meet the challenge of integrating the project in its environment through a simple and clear design.

The objective in the design process for the Enov project was not to simply create an additional building in the business park, but to use this opportunity to drive a sustainable change in the area. We designed the Enov building as the first foundational element in the Vitesco campus.

The quality of workspace conditions has long been a preoccupation in our work and the pandemic’s lockdowns have reinforced our convictions. Enov places emphasis on its exterior planted areas, protected by the central patio. It is the possibility to work differently, whenever the weather allows, to meet in agreeable surroundings or to be alone in the calm.
The proposed architecture is a box of white concrete that reflects the light, allowing a representation of the diverse programs, revealing them through its regular façade, communicating a sober, timeless image. This material quality guarantees its integration in the immediate surrounding. The regular grid and large openings in the material present a modern vision of office spaces, favouring the quality of the interior space.

Horizontal recessed channels discretely underline the vertical rhythm, in harmony with the scale of the façade and the user. This grid in the concrete becomes a matrix that structures the project, in both elevation and plan. This allows the integration of technical elements necessary for the ground-floor cleanrooms and laboratories. Similarly, the entrance hall’s forecourt provides transparency through to the patio, animating the plan. The architecture is rational – reflecting the image of the company Vitesco – and through its use of concrete and white aluminium, it confers on the project an elegant and timeless image.