School complex
Building a nursery school as an extension to the existing school complex, creating a sports complex and restructuring the after-school facilities
The existing school group is located in the heart of the village, within a dense and narrow urban fabric where the built morphology has adapted to the slope. Nestled next to the classified church, it is organized on a series of terraces built by stone walls forming a belvedere platform opening to the west. It was built over several periods, with the main Jules Ferry-type building being complemented by additional volumes added over the decades. The aging nursery school was accommodated without preserving a public space at the entrance or a sufficiently sized courtyard.
The project was able to develop by removing poorly maintained buildings and retaining other volumes that were strategically positioned and whose potential seemed sufficiently interesting to be enhanced. Demolition allowed for the recovery of certain ordinary stones previously used in construction. The site, thus opened up, allowed for the connection of the alley to the North with the main street leading up to the church and serving the main entrance of the school group.
The new nursery school is arranged in a right angle between retaining walls along an alley lined with stone walls. The northern wing avoids this street to create a pedestrian entrance square, below the existing parking lot. This arrangement allows for the creation of a belvedere courtyard with a view while preserving existing trees. The small plot led us to design a project on three levels, connecting the lower courtyard reserved for elementary school to the newly created upper courtyard. A covered walkway marked by a succession of wooden posts connects all the activity rooms around the courtyard. Inside, the rooms open up to the view while the circulation areas, accommodating the cloakroom zones, are tucked between the restructured existing building and the extension.
The multi-activity room is located on the ground floor between the square and the nursery courtyard. On the lower level, at the same level as the elementary school courtyard, workshops for the children are built against the existing retaining wall. Extended by a concrete awning redefining the entrance process to the elementary school courtyard from the main street, its roof slab extends the nursery courtyard as a belvedere. The extension is built with a wooden structure for the envelope walls, intermediate floors, and roofs. The joinery is made of natural wood with a varnish finish, while white mineral panels dress the facades of the timber frame. The zinc roofing covers the wooden structure, seeking the flattest profile possible to not obstruct the view from the upper terrace. To the north, along the alley and the created square, the wooden structure rests on a retaining wall forming a boundary, maintaining the narrowness of the public space and preserving the proximity of the village center buildings. It is built with concrete and reclaimed stones from the selective demolition.
In the existing elementary school building, renovation work and accessibility to the school restaurant were carried out to connect the different levels to the slope of the terrain. A sports plateau was created in a garden below the school group. Its stone walls and fruit trees were preserved, and the dimensions of the sports field were adapted accordingly.
