"La Fontaine" - Nursery St-Léonard, Switzerland

At the foothills of the mountain and at the edge of the old village, the building integrates the topographical variations and articulates the different outdoor areas. The kindergarten, situated between the barns and the houses of the village, has a form that is in dialogue with the existing buildings. Its position delineates the edge of the schoolyard on the village side, softening the transition between public and private, old and new. The project takes advantage of existing infrastructure by building a ramp on top of the existing underground carpark’s ramp, offering both easy and compliant access to the building and allowing it to successfully address the main street. The extension to the school block continues and elongates the same form as the existing volume and lays it along the foot of the hill. The future extension of the gymnasium, clearly demarcates the Eastern limit of the school’s courtyard.