MEETT Toulouse Exhibition and Convention Centre

MEETT Toulouse Exhibition and Convention Centre
© Marco Cappelletti
MEETT Toulouse Exhibition and Convention Centre
© Marco Cappelletti

MEETT TOULOUSE EXHIBITION AND CONVENTION CENTER

OMA

ERGONOMY
Abilis

AREA
155000 m2

ENGINEERING
Ingerop

ACOUSTICS
Royal Haskoning

LANDSCAPE DESIGN
Batlle I Roig

SUSTAINABILITY
Soconer

OMA PROJECT ARCHITECT
Gilles Guyot

OMA PARTNER
Chris van Duijn, Ellen van Loon, Rem Koolhaas

YEAR
2020

CLIENT
Europolia

COST
Dal

USERS
GL Events

OWNER
Toulouse Métropole

DESIGN MANAGEMENT
OMA

FACADES
Arcora

LOCATION
Aussonne, France

CATEGORY
Exhibition Center

SIGNAGE
ASE design

ASSOCIATE ARCHITECTS
Ppa●Architectures, Taillandier Architectes Associés, Ppa●Architectures

SCENOGRAPHY
Ducks Scéno

LIGHTING DESIGN
8’18’’

LOCAL ARCHITECTS
Ppa●Architectures, Ppa●Architectures, Taillandier Architectes Associés

CONTRIBUTORS
Toulouse Métropole, Région Occitanie (45M€), Conseil Départementale Haute- Garonne, Tisséo Collectivité, 45M€

MEETT Toulouse Exhibition and Convention Centre
© Marco Cappelletti
MEETT Toulouse Exhibition and Convention Centre
© Marco Cappelletti

MEETT, Toulouse’s new Exhibition, and Convention Centre, is located in the innovation zone north of Toulouse.

MEETT Toulouse Exhibition and Convention Centre
© Marco Cappelletti
MEETT Toulouse Exhibition and Convention Centre
© Marco Cappelletti

The project is not only about architecture, but also about infrastructure, urbanism, landscape, and public space.

MEETT Toulouse Exhibition and Convention Centre
© Marco Cappelletti
MEETT Toulouse Exhibition and Convention Centre
© Marco Cappelletti

The 155,000m2 exhibition and convention center is positioned in between the city and the countryside: it connects urbanized plots to the south – mainly dedicated to aeronautics, including the airport hangar of Airbus– to an agricultural landscape to the north.

MEETT Toulouse Exhibition and Convention Centre
© Marco Cappelletti
MEETT Toulouse Exhibition and Convention Centre
© Philippe Ruault

This rural area, well connected and close to the center of Toulouse, is vulnerable to the pressure of urbanization.

MEETT Toulouse Exhibition and Convention Centre
© Philippe Ruault
MEETT Toulouse Exhibition and Convention Centre
© Philippe Ruault

Our design uses the massive scale and diverse program of MEETT as an antidote to the sprawl of a standard exposition park, in order to preserve the surrounding Occitanic countryside.

MEETT Toulouse Exhibition and Convention Centre
© Marco Cappelletti
MEETT Toulouse Exhibition and Convention Centre
© Marco Cappelletti

MEETT is conceived as an active strip – ‘une bande active’ - a horizontal and compact project, divided in three parallel bands:

MEETT Toulouse Exhibition and Convention Centre
© Marco Cappelletti
MEETT Toulouse Exhibition and Convention Centre
© Marco Cappelletti

a row of modular exhibition halls to the north; a convention center and multi-function event hall to the south; and a reception area to the center, featuring a silo car park for 3,000 cars.

MEETT Toulouse Exhibition and Convention Centre
© Marco Cappelletti
MEETT Toulouse Exhibition and Convention Centre
© Philippe Ruault

Instead of banishing parking underground or pushing it to the periphery of the site, where it has no relationship with the surrounding landscape, we placed the parking at the center of the project, covering a spine where amenities and access to the hall are concentrated.

By combining interior and exterior spaces, and establishing connections with the infrastructure – tramway, roads, airport – and surrounding countryside, a typically introvert typology, the expo, is transformed into an extrovert one.

MEETT Toulouse Exhibition and Convention Centre
© Marco Cappelletti
MEETT Toulouse Exhibition and Convention Centre
© Marco Cappelletti

MEETT is not an architectural intervention, but an urban machine. Both monumental in its scale and subtle in its overall impact, it will be a new gateway to Toulouse.

MEETT Toulouse Exhibition and Convention Centre
© Marco Cappelletti
MEETT Toulouse Exhibition and Convention Centre
© Marco Cappelletti


MEETT Toulouse Exhibition and Convention Centre
Courtesy of OMA
MEETT Toulouse Exhibition and Convention Centre
Courtesy of OMA
MEETT Toulouse Exhibition and Convention Centre
Courtesy of OMA
MEETT Toulouse Exhibition and Convention Centre
Courtesy of OMA


MEETT Toulouse Exhibition and Convention Centre
Courtesy of OMA
MEETT Toulouse Exhibition and Convention Centre
Courtesy of OMA
MEETT Toulouse Exhibition and Convention Centre
Courtesy of OMA
MEETT Toulouse Exhibition and Convention Centre
Courtesy of OMA


MEETT Toulouse Exhibition and Convention Centre
Courtesy of OMA
MEETT Toulouse Exhibition and Convention Centre
Courtesy of OMA