French architects Atelier Phileas have won a competition to design an elementary and primary school along with 150 students housing in Paris, France.
More images and architect’s description after the break.
The sunny sentry
Sustainable city is the 21th century challenge and this challenge starts at Cardinet-Chalabre. This new area earmarked for local government planning project illustrates the city of Paris ambitions: to realize an important area AND sustainable in the heart of the Parisian metropolis, setting very high a standard with at least low energy buildings, at best positive energy buildings, to prove that it is not only possible, but moreover it is enviable, qualitative and contemporary.
In this project, ecology is tackled as a seed for urban innovation and not as an accessory; ecological approach organizes, dictates aspects and surfaces, overturns ways of life and living together, and is no more segregationist: ecology is made for gardens and for buildings. You’ll see, ecology will turn citizens into greens.
Confluence and transition
Here we are in the new planning project Cardinet. A site located on the confluence of some urban functions with their equipments, housings, mobility axes and a lot of green areas, and moreover a hub for the north-west part of Paris with an important antique and recent rail network, and major roads leading to Paris doors. This area means an historic transition between the industrial past of the Parisian suburbs (historical location for French railways board) and a thousand dreams for the future (potential area for the 2012 olympics, and from now on emblematic site for the new Paris as an ecological metropolis).
This site, chosen for our project, is an amplifier. It realizes an angle between the park front and one of its divisions leading to the avenue de Clichy and the preexisting districts with melted sociology. Contributing the advances between street and park, our building plays the part of a urban mainspring: it allows open views from the avenue de Clichy to the park and don’t block them. On the other hand, thanks to its sizes and calibre, it seems to enlarge the park and allows the south sun shine.
A program conducive to hybridizations
The proposed program (elementary and primary school + 150 students housings) is calling for an architectural language able to claim its peculiarity and its unity (very young children learning to walk into their schooling and young adults who choose to go on studies ). It has as well to make sure the protection of the children under the responsibility of the teaching team. We really talk about innovation.
We have implant, hollowed out and improved our building in order to offer him an original morphology conducive to transitions: scale transition, urban transition, and generational transition.
Scale transition with intermittents volumes, rather high for the students, low and familiar for the school, in order to easy the use of this school as a knowing building, appreciated with one glimpse by his young users.
Transition for the views, with a facade in front of the park, measuring with the Ibis Hotel, a façade on the street, ending with a friendly and dynamic totem. This sentry replies to the other park front, one of the impressive Parisian and “haussmanien” skyline below the railways.
This contemporary, graphic and playing building, compact as well as well spaced, is showing the aging transitions. Below, the school and the youth center are separated with the playground, linked with a footbridge. The facades are made of grass walls and terracotta, the roofs are as well covered with grass and solar panels. On top, the two blocks for the students, one long and one small tower, linked with a footbridge, with on only hall on the park front.
Sunshine on the facades and for the playground all over the year is one of the duties of this project. Most of the rooms are positioned south or south-east with no building opposite, a large view on the park, and this choice make sure that we enjoy a maximum of the solar contributions.
