Last Friday, Julien Eybalin, Regional Director Languedoc-Roussillon for Kaufman & Broad, inaugurated the Pure residence alongside Stéphan Rossignol, Mayor of La Grande Motte and President of the Pays de l'Or Agglomeration, and François Fontès, project architect and President of the Jean Nouvel studios.
Facing the Ponant peninsula, the Pure residence, composed of two buildings, seems to emerge from the trees, offering a pleasant living environment in symbiosis with nature. The residence is in the pure architectural tradition of La Grande Motte. With Pure, we want to demonstrate our expertise as urban planners, creators of new living spaces and committed to a responsible city.
A residence to live throughout the year
At La Grande Motte, the range of housing units that once corresponded to a summer need, mute and is now aimed at future active inhabitants, families or pensioners who wish to live there throughout the year and enjoy a pleasant living environment. The privileged location close to the Espace Grand Bleu, tennis courts and the rowing club, 10 minutes by bicycle from the beach of the Ponant, 15 minutes walk from shops, masterful architecture, luxury services, the exceptional natural setting between sea and ponds… make this project the new place to live well on the coast.
The residence Pure consists of 43 apartments, from 2 to 5 rooms, distributed in two buildings, they all have a large private terrace. The apartments, mostly traversing, generously welcome light thanks to double orientations. The 2/3 residents are active or retired and 90% of the apartments will be inhabited by owners or social rental occupants.
Integration into the city’s architectural heritage
The teams took up a major challenge with the construction of this new residence since La Grande Motte was the first city to obtain the label ‘City Heritage of the 20th century’ that is why it had to integrate into the architecture of the city. The Pure residence, winner of a competition launched by the city, is part of this architectural spirit with modern lines with feminine curves, punctuated by facet mirrors and generous terraces. A strong desire for dialogue between architecture and nature has been materialized.
A bioclimatic architecture in fusion with nature
The project was designed with a structure that makes it possible to free itself from the walls of the facade, thus offering beautiful glass walls of any height. This bold design gives lightness to the project and architectural modernity. It also offers maximum natural brightness to homes, thus optimising electricity consumption. It is also characterised by mirrors of geometric shape up to 12 m high that decorate the facades. These large factored mirrors are randomly arranged on the terraces allow to preserve the privacy of the housing while creating a dialogue with the surrounding landscape.
One of the main characteristics of the site is its belonging to a wooded landscape with major wildlife and floristic issues. The entire outskirts of the building are surrounded by generous outdoor living spaces protected by shades that match the curves of the building. All open spaces are planted and all terraces have gardens. Trees and various shrubs of Mediterranean species are found in the open land areas, the aim being to integrate as much as possible with the existing environment.
A setting for a work of art
For the occasion, the Montpelliérain plastician Jordi created a work of art, located in the public space near the residence and the canal of the Ponant. This sculpture, a sphere of 210 cm in diameter, is part of the series ‘The spheres of Jordi’ and is composed of 170 ‘Jordi shapes’ in white thermelled steel.
