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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The Villebourbon market, located in Montauban, was built in 1935 by architect Marcel Renard as part of an urban plan launched after the devastating floods of 1930. The project aimed to upgrade the city's public facilities. The building is distinguished by its bold structure: a rectangular nave 24 metres long, concrete, with a translucent vault supported by two parabolic arches. Its glass stands distinguish it from traditional regional constructions, in keeping with a line of architectural experiments initiated in the 19th century for the halls, first metal, then concrete.

Originally, the market housed thirty-six sales stalls, organized along the walls and into two central blocks, separated by a transverse alley. The mobile metal partitions and white tiled tiles, the only vestige of the original fittings, reflected a functional and modular design. In the 1970s, major changes altered its interior volume, including the addition of a "caisson" in the south to accommodate offices and the bus station lobby. These transformations partially erased the original provision of the market.

Ranked Historic Monument by decree of 29 April 2005, the market of Villebourbon is now fully protected for its architectural and historical interest. It illustrates a pivotal period in which concrete, an innovative material, has allowed for forms unprecedented in public architecture. Its inscription is based on its singularity in the regional landscape, as well as its role in the urban history of Montauban, marked by post-disaster reconstructions and modernist ambitions of the 1930s.

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