The Cataroux-Michelin site is currently the site of one of the world’s largest industrial investment and redevelopment projects. This colossal project, scheduled for completion in 2028, will transform this vast wasteland in the heart of Clermont-Ferrand into a new, highly attractive district. A sort of city within the city, where different uses will not be opposed, but brought together. A district for professionals and residents alike. A meeting place for a committed community, contributing to the region’s influence and economic vitality.

01

A unique industrial conversion project

Parc Cataroux is located on the former Michelin site: a unique industrial and working-class heritage to which the local population is truly attached. And its popularity extends beyond the region’s borders: Michelin is one of France’s favorite companies! So, rather than opt for its destruction, Michelin, the Region and the Metropolis are initiating an innovative and collective response to serve the region. The metamorphosis has already begun to open up Parc Cataroux to new functions – without losing any of its industrial identity.

A public-private partnership for innovation

Michelin, a key economic player, two major public players – the Region and Clermont Auvergne Métropole – and many other public and private partners have joined forces to create a joint project. A public-private partnership serving the region, its economic and cultural dynamism, innovation, training and job creation.

Cataroux Park: a collective project to serve the region :

The strong link in the transition

Parc Cataroux is not just a symbol of Clermont-Ferrand’s industrial past. Thanks to the establishment of new companies, it provides an innovative – and still industrial – response to the challenges of ecological and social transition. Eventually, the site will be home to companies of all sizes and innovation players who share the same values and are developing positive-impact projects to preserve the planet’s resources and combat global warming.

With the Cataroux park, a whole ecosystem of research, training and economic development around sustainability issues is emerging.

No single player can meet economic, social and environmental challenges alone. The Cataroux park is an example of this essential collaboration between public and private players, for the benefit of society as a whole.

Florent Ménégaux, President, Michelin Group

02

A neighborhood to live in, open and shared

Destination Cataroux: here you’ll find third places, start-up incubators and cutting-edge laboratories, as well as housing, cultural venues and trendy restaurants… Enough to attract businesses, young professionals and families, for a whole host of different reasons. Between work, leisure and culture, Parc Cataroux is reinventing a mix of uses – both assertive and ambitious.

• Parc Cataroux will be organized around 4 main areas, covering 42 hectares:
• 1.the Manufacture des talents
• 2.the Sustainable Materials Center
• 3.the Pôle d’Innovation Collaborative (PIC)
• 4.the Pistes

La Manufacture des talents,
not just a training center

La Manufacture des talents is first and foremost a professional training center. Our aim? To innovate pedagogically by supporting professional retraining and training a skilled workforce in line with the needs of local businesses. Particular emphasis is placed on culture, digital technology and the industry of the future.

In this way, La Manufacture promotes local job creation by connecting trained talent with companies that are hiring. Since 2019, it has been home to Hall 32, which trains 200 students each year in the professions of the industry of the future.

It also aims to be an incubator for innovative ideas and projects. Companies, creators and start-ups will find here a propitious environment in which to develop, test their concepts, or even collaborate with other structures already well established in the metropolis.

Sustainable Materials Center

R&D, recycling and the circular economy, training and awareness-raising for businesses: to accelerate the use of more environmentally-friendly materials and the circular economy, the Centre des matériaux durables (CMD) is sparing no expense. Its ambition? To develop the next generation of bio-sourced and recycled materials. From prototyping to market launch, the CMD enables new solutions to be tested and validated before they are put on the market. The Center also helps regional companies wishing to integrate sustainable materials into their products or production lines.

The CMD is entering an acceleration phase. It can already capitalize on the presence of several start-ups specializing in recycling and bio-based materials: Carbios in 2022, followed by Bobine in early 2024. Capillum was quick to join them. Here, the start-up transports and recycles 15 tons of hair a month. To make what? Rolls of mulch to protect plants, ultra-absorbent socks to clean up the oceans. By 2030, the Sustainable Materials Center will have tripled its capacity and should be able to support around twenty start-ups in the pre-industrialization phase.

The PIC, Pôle d’innovation collaborative

This 18,000 m² space is made up of a block of five buildings capable of accommodating up to 2,500 people. In charge of its management, Turing 22 will develop a range of services including the largest coworking space in the region, coliving accommodation, a food court, a bar, a bakery, a gym, a beauty area and even a stage space! The foundation stone for the PIC was laid last April, and the Pôle will welcome its first occupants at the end of 2025.

Les Pistes, the future residential area

Innovation is also urban and architectural at Cataroux Park. The proof is in the total rehabilitation of the former Michelin tracks: 450-meter-long ribbons of asphalt where Michelin used to test its tires. The aim is to regenerate the site and return it to local residents by 2028.

Culture and sport are on the agenda for this transformation, with, among other things, the installation of the Michelin Adventure Museum, the creation of a 1,600-seat cultural hall, the opening of the Cité du mouvement (a sports and health area developed by ASM Omnisports in partnership with the CHU and the University of Clermont Auvergne)…. And plenty of trees and permeable soil to reconnect with biodiversity.
A lively, bustling district, open to the city – literally and figuratively – where it’s good to live, sleep, work and go out.

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photos : Z Architecture / Asylum}