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EULOGY TO FREE ACCESS
project by Wilmotte et Associés
photo by Alessandro Paderni, Eye Studio
text by Giovanna Massoni

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Decentralization, strengthening of local communities, ease of access to culture and information, multimedia resources: these are the recurring themes when joint ventures, shared services and public construction projects are under discussion.  What follows is a superb example of sustainable architecture for the good of the community, set in a small town in the South of France and the brainchild of one of the leading French architectural firms – Wilmotte et Associés. 

THE CONTEXT Béziers is anything but a run-of-the-mill town, but rather the “capital” of a communauté d’agglomération, a concept introduced by French legislation passed on 12 July 1999, in order to strengthen and simplify inter-municipal collaboration. The scheme creates new communities in which individual towns come together to form working groups with a common goal: to pursue ‘local development projects within a broader framework of promoting social solidarity’, in other words, towns working together to design and implement mutually beneficial urban development plans.
The Béziers Méditerranée Community, located in the South of France, comprises 13 towns and villages, with a population of 104,000, of which around 70% live in Béziers. Available information suggests that this community was sadly lacking in public libraries, indeed until 2008, not a single public library existed in Béziers and its surrounding area. In 2002 however, the Béziers Méditerranée Community made the decision to build a central multimedia library for the benefit of the inter-municipal network it had established.
 The André Malraux Médiathèque, opened in September 2008, stands proudly on a 5.7 hectare site in the centre of town on a defunct military base handed over to the civil authority in 1998. Much of the site consists of a vast open space, the old parade ground, and it is also home to a number of pre-existing public buildings such as the Paul Valéry university campus and restaurant, the CIRDOC (the inter-regional centre for the development of Provence), and some school buildings. The new library is one of the key elements in the overall rebuilding plan for the site. The architectural style is clearly  inspired by the Duguesclin barracks, which once stood on the site and have since been demolished, and the modest scale construction is perfectly in tune with the square on which it stands – Place du 14 Juillet.

THE PROJECT  The public-sector contract covered a built surface area of 7,982 mq together with 2,300 mq  of parking space, with the brief being: “the construction and interior design of Béziers’ new multimedia library, featuring a multimedia area, an auditorium, an exhibition hall, brasserie and car park”. The intention was to provide both the town and the community as a whole with “a new space for cultural life, a flagship proclaiming the identity of the Béziers Méditerranée Community and a new example of the improvements created by the urban renewal plan for the town centre”. Naturally the overall aim is to promote and encourage reading among the general public.
The André Malraux Médiathèque provides the town with an interactive cultural hub to which everyone has access, in addition to providing a focus for the newly developed area around Place du 14 Juillet. With this new multimedia library, the town now also boasts an example of contemporary architecture that functions efficiently and whose high-quality environmental standards have earned it ‘HQE’ certification.
The architecture  Three monolithic structures rise up on the existing site in perfect proportion with one another, with stone and glass as the main materials used for the cladding of the four levels of the main building and the three levels of the two wings. Compact in design, not only does the building sit neatly in the footprint of the long-gone barracks, but, as must be any good architect’s aim, it blends in beautifully with its surroundings, making it a welcome new addition to a square that has been given a face lift. At the heart of the building, an open space laid out as a terrace forms a natural link with the square beyond the walls of the library. The ground floor, in floor-to-ceiling glass, issues an unabashed invitation to set foot inside and enter the main hall and reception area. Moreover, the transparency creates a sense of continuity, breaking down both architectural and symbolic barriers between outside and in. The view from outside teases the eye, tempting the visitor to discover an oasis of green - the terrace that sits at the centre of the complex. The upper square provides a natural link with the town below.

The interior  The spacious reception area houses a customer services desk on an impressive scale, which operates as a filter at the entrance to the complex and constantly regulates the flow of visitors, particularly when numbers approach maximum capacity. This area is the interface between visitors and staff. The other entrance to the building, to the side and further along the boulevard, provides entry to the cultural side of the multimedia library, with access to the 150 seat auditorium for evening events, and to the cafeteria and the exhibition hall. On the upper floor, a huge central area channels the flow of visitors towards the research, training and heritage wing and the literature and science wing. The reading rooms overlook the garden terrace below, where the lawn, the water feature and a wide variety of plants and flowers together create a secluded and tranquil spot. The second floor of the building houses the administrative offices.
 

360° sustainability: eco-building and eco-management Construction of the multimedia library meets the ‘Haute Qualité Environnementale’ (High Quality Environmental Standard) specifications. The building’s natural empathy with its surroundings - the use of greenery and respect for local residents, for example - the materials and construction techniques used (such as the ‘Monomuro’ terracotta bricks and the double-skin façade) make this without a shadow of a doubt a shining example of eco-building. The construction site also caused minimal environmental impact, with waste materials being recycled and noise and air pollution restricted as far as possible. Turning to eco-management, energy saving is guaranteed by way of a Provence (or Canadian) well, which reduces the amount of gas used for heating and electricity consumed by air-conditioning (resulting in a massive annual reduction of 20 tonnes of CO2). Plans are underway to introduce a rain water capture system to be put to use for watering the terrace and supplying the water feature. Other environmentally friendly measures adopted include the recycling of waste, the use of solar panels and the implementation of energy-efficient management policies for heating, ventilation, air conditioning, lighting and water consumption. In addition, the building scores maximum points on the comfort scale: sound-proofed walls, sunlight filters, natural ventilation and climate control, as well as being a pleasure to the senses, with attention being paid to acoustics and visuals, going so far even as to please one’s sense of smell.

360° sustainability: community culture and ethics
The library was designed to be easily accessible and open to all, with 6,000 m2 of floor area, 220,000 documents (of which 180,000 can be taken out on loan) and 100 computer terminals available to the general public. There are plans to widen the user base and to diversify and personalise the services available. This is no ivory tower for the elite, but rather a multimedia library open to all-comers, with the entire complex equipped to accommodate those with special mobility needs. Particular importance has been attached to putting the library’s vast data bank online and, as a place of entertainment, to making its facilities available to the residents of the 13 towns belonging to the community.