In the city of Toulouse in Southern France, the final touches are being made to the MFJA project: Maison de la Formation Jacqueline Auriol. The building is part of the University of Toulouse, and will be the place where a number of topflight teaching programmes, research work and innovations in mechanical and production engineering for the aerospace industry will be jointly housed.
This new building was named after Jacqueline Auriol, the first female test pilot in France and holder of the world speed record in the 1950s and 1960s, behind the controls of a series of legendary aircraft. The building was designed by Agence d’Architecture Séquences based in Toulouse.
The building features a series of individually laid-out roofs at various heights. One roof section, for example, features a garden, while another area of the roof will be used for parking. The world-renowned engineering firm WSP opted for the rooftop parking system from Zoontjens to create this rooftop carpark.
The total area of the rooftop carpark is almost 1900 m², produced with Pardak®110 slabs in the colour amber-grey. The roof is finished with a series of lines and trees. The tree containers, measuring 5m x 1.9m, and each weighing in at a staggering 12,950 kg, have been placed on the Pardak ®system. The underlying slabs have been fitted with a through feed, for an irrigation system. This choice of construction method has resulted in a clean-lined roof carpark, with the minimum of sawn slabs.
The building is due to be completed at the end of the summer, and the first students will start using the facility at the end of January 2022.