Tectoniques’ recently completed Dominique Frelaut school group in Colombesis notable for its verticality. Its staggered upper floors and varied pathwayscreate a close relationship between the architecture and the landscape.

Situated in a heterogeneous and dense urban context, the school group rises on a relatively small plot,formerly part of an Ericsson industrial site, of which nothing remains. The significant size of the facilityand the added requirement of a green playground offered the opportunity to propose a vertical schoolwith singular pathways, in an interweaving of architecture and landscape. Presenting a clear and easilyrecognizable form, at once monumental and familiar, the building coils around the playground like aprotective enclosure.

Double façade

On the city side, the façades form a terracotta enclosure, echoing the brick heritage of the Ile de Franceregion with Alvar Aalto’s influence fully acknowledged. The plaquettes are placed vertically to emphasizetheir status as cladding. Alternating flat and convex plaquettes create a ribbed texture, giving relief to thefaçade and changing its perception depending on the view and daylight. The façades are made of woodon the courtyard side and the uppermost floor. They have an ultra-thin hanging metal structure holdingwooden slats, providing shade and supporting climbing vines rooted in the courtyard soil.

Miniature Parisian

basin A classroom is removed on each floor to createspace for a hanging garden balcony overlookingthe town. On the south side, the roof of theplayground serves as a vast platform laid out asa teaching garden, linking the building’s twowings. The building's footprint leaves a largearea of exposed soil in the courtyard, partiallyclad in reused materials, echoing the landscapesof the Seine's alluvial plain and riparian forest.

The central space, the focal point of thecomposition, collects and filters rainwater fallingon the site. The terraces are a miniaturearboretum presenting the different naturelenvironments of the Paris Basin and the varietyand depth of its soils, enhanced by adifferentiation of the physical chemistry of itssubstrata. This stratified landscape follows analtimetric gradient specific to the Paris Basin:down below, the Seine, up above, woods anddry grasslands.

Pleasant pathways

The staggered organization of the floors creates a network of pathways through the architecture. Twolarge concrete cylindrical volumes house monumental, open, and helicoidal staircases that benefit fromnatural light. A playful and intriguing mirror disk on the ceiling invites one to climb them. Exteriorstaircases cascade down to the courtyard, linking all the terrace levels and offering an open-air path withmultiple panoramic city views.

Seeing big

Natural light floods the corridors through picturewindows whose diagonal distribution on thefaçade follows the pattern of staggered volumes.Entrances to classrooms, in the sameproportions and largely glazed, are locatedfacing vast frameworks that overlook the city.This organisation sets up deep perspectivesthrough the building, floods classrooms withindirect sunlight, and ensures natural ventilationthrough the premises. Thus, all the classrooms,identical in their proportions, are different in theirconfiguration and their relationship with theexterior. On the fourth and last floor, thelunchroom enjoys a panoramic view of the Parisskyline.

Learning from the inside

Partition walls between corridors and classroomsare clad in compressed earthen bricks. Exposedon both sides, the brick brings character to thespaces whilst also contributing to optimiseinertia and hygrometry. The built-in furnishings,designed and produced with poplar plywood,soften the brutalism of some equipment andservice features. In furtherance of this goal, thestructure and utility networks remain exposed forlearning purposes, enabling users to grasp howthe building was constructed and how itfunctions. This simplicity also ensures less costlyupkeep and maintenance.

Team:

Architects: Tectoniques / Architecture & Engineering /

Contractor: Eco Urbain for the city of Colombes

Team : Maître Cube (mandataire), Tectoniques (architect), Altitude 35 (landscape architect), Biodiversita (ecologist), Tectoniques Ingénieurs (economy, structural engineering, fluides),Eegenie (Environmental Quality of Buildings ), Gamba (acoustics engineering), PK (Kitchen designer), Ivoire(Various Roadways and Networks), SPK (sprinklage)

Photographers: © Maxime Verret and © Salem Mostefaoui