Montpellier Metropolitan Cemetery

The program provided for a capacity of 8,500 burial spaces split temporally into 3 phases that will ultimately occupy a total surface area of 13.5 hectares. The present project represents phases 1 and 2, which occupies a surface area of 8.7 hectares and includes all the infrastructure of this new facility: a new caretaker's lodge, an ossuary, 1,500 columbarium spaces, two memorial gardens, places of contemplation and meditation distributed throughout the site.

For measures of hygiene, most cemeteries were created "outside the city walls" following the decree issued by Napoleon in 1804. Current urbanization has eventually engulfed many of them and these frequently visited spaces could, in their own way, bring a little bit of nature back into the city... In general, the capacities of existing communal cemeteries are diminishing due to the demographic evolution. The leeway of the municipalities to ensure the necessary developments and extensions is very limited due to land reserve issues. Our approach consisted of creating a shared public space that is not simply a reductive infrastructure for organizing burials for different faiths. Instead, we created a public park, a place that can be visited and that generates potential new uses. We have made this new cemetery a landscape of pathways by working on spatial voids, the notions of time, thresholds, and deambulatory sequences.

We have given great importance to the environment to provide the city with a landscape that connects with and enrichens the local ecosystem. To achieve this we sought to minimize soil sealing to increase porous and fertile soils, to create hydrological continuities by organizing water retention and direct infiltration, promoting evapotranspiration. These "soils that drink and sweat" contribute to the reduction of UHI (urban heat islands) and the creation of “cool islands”, as well as improves biodiversity. The creation of layers of plantations (herbaceous, shrub and arboreal) also helps to promote temperate environments through the shade and evapotranspiration of plants. The choice of light colours for the mineral parts of the project makes it possible to obtain a high albedo, thus creating surfaces that reflect the sun's rays and also contribute to the reduction of UHI. Excavated materials from the site were reused up to 70% to shape the new cemetery, and low-carbon concrete was used.