Winner of the “Équerre d’Argent 2021”, a prestigious French architecture award, this community facilities centre by Atelier PNG comprises a nursery school, elementary school, gymnasium, library and school canteen. Situated in the village of Neuvecelle in Haute Savoie, the architecture is inspired by the surrounding mountain vernacular architecture but is simultaneously contemporary in its materiality, openness, and fluidity.
Given the complex program of varying uses, a typical response could have been to design a unitary building. Instead, in response to the village fabric and scale, PNG proposed a series of buildings that reinterpret the archetypes of mountain architecture and blend with the small-town grain.
The resulting project is made up of eight different buildings, both new and existing, positioned on either side of a covered path and united by common architecture. Through the common outdoor spaces and urban context of the landscape, rich interactions between the programs contained in the different volumes are fostered.
Solids and voids along the main artery generate a quality landscape with the creation of multifunctional interior patios and courtyards protected from the prevailing winds. From the classroom windows and covered path, kindergarten children can see their future school and mingle with older children.
By dialoguing with the past, the project invites the public to take a new and refreshed look at the urban condition of Neuvecelle.
