Conservatoire à rayonnement régional de Montpellier

Blending into the abundant existing vegetation, the Conservatory is conceived as a musical village featuring built volumes interspersed with patios, terraces and suspended gardens, interconnected by corridors widely open to the street. The project seeks to renew the architectural relationship to educational institutions by proposing a new lifestyle. It also addresses the relationship of the music conservatory to the city in terms of urban planning values by connecting these two environments through fragmented volumes set in the middle of a green landscape.

The building stands in the recess of a vast square accommodating the main passageways and a 400-seat auditorium, offering a progressive entrance sequence into the spacious and airy classrooms. The building blends harmoniously with the surrounding built masses, by means of cascading volumes that closely match the contours of the former nursery and the square. The hanging gardens reach out towards the tree canopies, overhung by a skyline marked by the “fish-scale” patterns of the photovoltaic panels. The subtle interweaving of the different spaces highlighted by the filtered effects of the coloured sunshades on the façades, creates a poetic and nurturing environment, fitting for a cultural institution for the study and practice of music, dance and drama, and creates a pleasant living and working environment for all. Revitalising the heart of the Boutonnet district, this contextual, innovative and contemporary architectural creation will undoubtedly enhance the anticipated future outreach of the Conservatory.