A foretaste of the future architectural identity in full mutation at the “Heart of the village”: the Train des Pignes construction site is transformed week after week. In the coming days, the crane will disappear from the landscape, the last blocks for the creation of an esplanade will have been delivered.
To mark this new era in the life of the commune, the municipality had targeted the complete overhaul of the place, called the Train des Pignes parking lot. In the near future, it will be dominated by a series of living spaces.
Following in the footsteps of architect Maryline Chevalier (Atelier MC Architecture), first assistant René Carandante sees the metamorphosis underway. “This file was selected for its aesthetics. And it was the lowest project in height, the most condensed.” transcribed the chosen one.
For this 2021 competition, Maryline Chevalier had imagined the creation of an urban public space, and not “a dressed parking lot: my whole project is based on spatial organization while respecting the existing residences around it.”
Energy sobriety sought
A project established according to a common thread: the Mediterranean Sustainable Building (BDM) Gold distinction, “the highest” which highlights energy savings. A project designed in accordance with the rules of sustainable development, minimizing the footprint of the construction site, thanks to bio-sourced resources, raw concrete preferred, stone blocks transported from nearby quarries. While the old materials from the old car park will be recycled: crushed rubble, and some stones now adorn the small garden of the swimming pool.
On the two levels of parking (98 spaces), no mechanical ventilation, large openings to let the light filter through. Natural light to the maximum which pierces the structure, airy, with a light well from which will spring a majestic Grevillea robusta (Australian silky oak). The electric bikes will have a fleet with recharges and, coming soon, a self-service repair workshop.
The water consumption of the green spaces has been carefully considered: a buried tank will collect rainwater to replenish deep planters.
On the surface…
Visually, the architecture of the place will play with the slope. Multiple visual sequences with planters evocative of the history of the Train des Pignes and the places it crisscrossed on the Var coast. An agora will be oriented facing a soothing pergola topped with a photovoltaic shade for the energy needs of the building. Care has also been taken with the colorimetry, in osmosis with the immediate environment.
“It was also the only project to have taken transversality into account,” underlines the first deputy. An asset to restore some cohesion to what looked like an excavation that had become a parking lot. A scar to be sewn up with “connection points” to offer several accesses to this aerial forecourt which also embraces a landscaped dimension, planted and adorned with wood materials.
Finally, this project will reveal a monumental bench leaning against the last planter, comparable to a balcony overlooking the sea: “a very beautiful perspective with a vanishing point on the horizon”, describes the architect.
Although the work will be interrupted during the month of August, the delivery of this sea space is still announced for the end of 2024.
