Austrian Green Planet Building

Wood'Art

Toulouse, France

Wood'Art, designed by Dietrich | Untertrifaller, is part of the Cartoucherie eco-neighbourhood with 3,100 flats and a total of 6,000 m2 of commercial space in Toulouse. The mixed-use project consists of an eleven-storey tower, which houses a hotel and flats, and two residential complexes behind it, which stand on a plinth with shops. Shielded from the street by gardens, they are connected to the tower by an inner pedestrian zone.
The gardens fulfil several functions at once: They serve as meeting spaces for the residents, form a reserve for biodiversity and counteract heat islands. The architectural concept enables the creation of a visual "landmark" with simultaneous permeability and a social and functional mix of buildings. Users are offered a lively environment in a diversely designed public space.
The building ensemble itself consists of 76 per cent timber: the entire superstructure from the ground floor upwards, apart from a concrete core for the traffic routes, was constructed using prefabricated timber modules. This shortened the construction time while at the same time reducing the amount of waste produced. Terracotta panels tie in with the local colour tradition of the "ville rose" and form a double façade skin at the height of the arcades and the traffic routes of the tower, as well as in front of the loggias of the flats. The building ensemble is heated by the city's local district heating system, which is largely supplied by the waste incineration plant. A PV-system of around 120 kWp provides green energy on the property.