Montessori Nursery School

The school is situated on thegarden level and converted so thehouse can preserve some privacy( 2 separate entries, no sharedvisual space). The architecturalquality of the existing buildingmade with stones is preserved.The school entrance is located atthe rear of the building. Acces isafter going across the courtyardand a bioclimatic greenhouse. Itimproves the thermal efficiencyof the school and generates abuffer space between inside andoutside.This greenhouse is like a closedcourtyard in which children willgrow plants. This winter gardenis made of transcluent colouredpolycarbonate panels in order tocreate sets of lights (as sainedglass).

The ground is not flat but relief. Itimproves the children motor skills. Weplayed with the accessibility constraint: the disabled ramp structures, links,animates and identifies the school.At night, the lighting is ensured byneons of various colors (yellow andwhite). Their implantation on theceiling interacts with the ramp.

A row of windows in the upper part of thewall brightens the school. Nevertheless,the room only has a few points of emergedviews. To overcome this default inherentto the context, we created a skylightwhich enables a piece of heaven and avirtual window.

The reflexion of the two slopes colored roof is projected on the ground. The ground colors spread over the walls. Thus, there is no separation between the ground, the walls and the ceiling anymore. More than a space, we create an environment.

The virtual window is the expression of our researches on the concept of the nspaces : it is a video screen embedded into the ground which broadcasts a real-time image of the great landscape filmed by a camera mounted on the roof. Thus, children can enjoy this live picture and be more aware of the weather, of the outside environment either in the rain or under the sun.