Toulouse, France

“MEETT is a gigantic, flexible structure that allows for an infinite number of different events, programs and layouts,” states Chris van Duijn of OMA.


“It is also able to provide a safe and contemporary environment during the current pandemic, now that large public events can take place again, and people are excited to visit such events.”

Designed by Chris van Duijn and Gilles Guyot of OMA with Taillandier Architectes Associés (TAA) and PPA Architectures Toulouse and landscape architects Batlle I Roig Arquitectes, MEETT, Toulouse’s new Exhibition, and Convention Centre was officially inaugurated, preceding the opening of the Foire Internationale de Toulouse.

The new 155,000 square-meter building is one of the largest event venues in France designed as an adaptable space for exhibitions, conferences, and concerts, and blends into the surrounding agricultural landscape.

The project is not only about architecture, but also about infrastructure, urbanism, landscape and public space.

Located in the innovation zone of Toulouse in southern France, MEETT is a modular-based project consisting of a horizontal, compact strip divided into three parallel volumes: a 700-meter long exhibition space in the north that can be split into up to seven halls; a central circulation space including the reception area on the ground floor, and a four-story-high silo for 3,000 cars; and a convention hall in the south with a massive doorway allowing performances to spread out outdoors.

The Convention Center boasts a 40,000m² exhibitions hall that is completely modular, the main street that opens into an outdoor exhibitions area of 25,000m², capable of hosting a wide variety of events.

It is equipped with an additional two mezzanines which bring an original touch that truly complements the building.

The Convention Center is designed around two stages and will be able to accommodate corporate events of up to 10,000 delegates with 3400-seats plenary MEETT is conceived as an active strip – ‘une bande active’ – a horizontal and compact project, divided into three parallel bands: a row of modular exhibition halls to the north; a convention center and multi-function event hall to the south; and a reception area to the center, featuring a silo car park for 3,000 cars.

Instead of banishing parking underground or pushing it to the periphery of the site, where it has no relationship with the surrounding landscape, the architects placed the parking at the center of the project, covering a spine where amenities and access to the hall are concentrated.

The building is composed of a limited repertoire of functional elements—a series of black boxes (both on the ground and elevated in the air), white-colored steel profiles for the structure, and a polycarbonate skin for the facade.

Together they form a regular composition that emphasizes the giant scale of the building, but also creates a bright and pleasant environment for the exhibition spaces.

The building was envisioned as a compact “mini-city” within the rural area near the Garonne River—an antidote to the sprawl of a standard exposition park.

The entire masterplan—including all buildings—is based on a 3-meter grid, following the standard expo distribution, which permits to dissect the building in 3×3 meter cells as if it was a Tetris board, providing endless possibilities to split the use of the ground but also forming an underlying system for all architectural components.

OMA’s design uses the massive scale and diverse program of MEETT as an antidote to the sprawl of a standard exposition park, in order to preserve the surrounding Occitanic countryside.

MEETT is not an architectural intervention, but an urban machine.

Both monumental in its scale and subtle in its overall impact, it will be a new gateway to Toulouse.

Project: MEETT: Toulouse Exhibition and Convention Center
Architects: Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA)
Design Team: Chris van Duijn and Gilles Guyot
Associate Architects: Taillandier Architectes Associés (TAA) and PPA Architectures Toulouse
Landscape Architects: Batlle I Roig Arquitectes
Client: MEETT: Toulouse Exhibition and Convention Center
Photographers: Marco Cappelletti