Martin Malvy School / Séquences

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Text description provided by the architects. Sited on former agricultural land next to the Plantaurel secondary school, 600 metres from the old centre of Cazères and the train station, the sixth-form college was duty-bound to blend harmoniously into its environment while also adding to the attraction of the village and to the development of the area by providing families with a good local sixth-form college. On this longitudinal plot, the college is arranged in successive strips. Ordered on the entrance court side, they deform and break rank as one moves back into the campus, leaving space for vegetation and for nature. Like the organisation of the neighbouring plot, the density of building at the front progressively diminishes, freeing the back of the plot for sports, games and leisure activities. This arrangement ensures the gentle transition between the different environments framed within the site. Ensuring the image of a modern public establishment, able to evolve, in harmony with its time and its environment, has naturally orientated the choice of building materials for the new college, all are durable, solid and easy to maintain. With concrete and glass bases, the timber-ribbed upper floors are animated towards the top by a play of slopes, echoing the Pyrenees that are ever-present in the landscape.