Construction progress of the Natura project, the first large-scale low-carbon residence in Occitanie

As part of the call for applications for the sale of lots to be built in 2019, SEM Oppidea and the city of Toulouse have appointed Premium Promotion to carry out an ambitious operation on the theme of construction using biosourced materials. The Natura project is the first large-scale low-carbon residence in Occitanie, located in the heart of the Saint-Martin-du-Touch district, in Toulouse.

Wood-straw insulation, algae-based paint or even wood-fired heating, its design is avant-garde and exemplary in terms of energy consumption and thermal performance.

The laying of a bale of straw for this project, which will see the light of day at the end of 2023, took place on site on Thursday September 8, in the presence of Mrs. Annette Laigneau, Deputy Mayor of Toulouse in charge of Municipal Architecture and Urbanism, Mr. Jean-Jacques Bolzan, Deputy Mayor, mayor of district 6.1, Arènes Romaines, Saint-Martin-du-Touch, Purpan, the representatives of Oppidea as well as the various partners of Premium Promotion.

Located in Saint Martin du Touch, the Natura residence offers more than 100 accommodations, from 2 to 5 rooms, spread over 4 residential plots with vast exterior surfaces.

The materials used offer optimal energy consumption and thermal performance which allow Natura to take part in many quality and environmental approaches such as the BDO (Sustainable Building Occitanie) approach and the Nowatt call for projects from the Occitanie Region, and to aim for labels and certifications such as NF Habitat HQE level Excellence and E+C- level E3C2.

A low-carbon residence, the Natura project responds to three fundamentals.

The use of biosourced materials

To guarantee a sustainable real estate project, the use of biosourced materials is essential. For example, the facades of the residence are made of solid wood boxes insulated with bales of straw, thus offering energy performance in line with the expectations of passive buildings. The level of wall insulation is more than 50% higher than usual RT2012 projects. In addition, this natural material, abundant and whose environmental balance is exemplary in short circuit, offers optimal comfort in summer thanks to its significant phase shift.

This high-performance envelope, coupled with a wood-fired boiler room and a heat pump common to all the buildings for heating and domestic hot water, guarantee extremely low operating costs.

Environmental preservation and housing quality

The roofs are in the form of greenhouses, which offers a double or even triple exposure in each of the rooms. Each accommodation has terraces. Finally, the paint used in all the accommodations is ecological and based on algae. At the heart of the block, a large landscaped area with preserved century-old trees, roofs for gardening in a shared vegetable patch with a shared agricultural greenhouse, or on the ground floor to collect organic fruit and vegetables from market garden boxes will offer residents a real quality of use and will place them at the heart of the landscape.

Living together and the development of shared spaces

Workshops for vegetable gardens will be offered to residents for 2 years so that they can take ownership of the common spaces and bring them to life over time. Finally, residents will be able to enjoy a multipurpose apartment (both guest room, meeting place for residents or telecommuting).

“We are building the city of tomorrow, for a more sustainable and responsible way of life” Sébastien Rue, Director – Founder of Premium Promotion.