Rather than spreading across the entire available 150 acre site – a patchwork of open fields and sporadic developments – OMA chose to designate a "virtuous" strip, 2.8 kilometers long and 320 metres wide, crossed by the RD902 highway. The strip will act as a zone for future developments and link the river Garonne at one extreme and the Airbus A380 factory on the other. Within this strip, PEX occupies a relatively small area: a continuous low-lying structure 660 metres long, 316 metres wide, and 24 metres high.

PEX consists of three parallel bands: the multi-function Event Hall, with a massive doorway allowing performances to spread outdoors; a 40,000m2 column-free Exhibition Hall; and, in the middle band, a 160,000m2 parking silo for 6,500 cars. Instead of banishing parking underground or pushing it to the periphery of the site, parking ramps are visible through glass partitions from inside the halls.

The structure of the exhibition spaces and Event Hall forms a continuous three dimensional grid that extends to include the façade and roof, providing a generic "plug in" system for services and for exhibitors in the exhibition halls. Exhibitor and Truck access to the exhibition halls is at grade from either the north or south side of the exhibition halls, with the Exhibition Hall in the southwest having a full height door sliding the length of the façade for oversize objects. An existing farm – preserved in its current state and as part of the exhibition hall sequence – provides a restaurant and agricultural amenity.

PEX, both monumental in its horizontal scale and subtle in its overall impact, will be the new gateway to Toulouse…