Built in 1974 by Jouven and Phelouzat (who also designed the nearby hospital), the existing Secondary school is located on the southwestern outskirts of the city center, in a suburban fabric mixing facilities, business area, collective housing, and individual homes. It consists of several buildings arranged in an orthogonal system with no relation to its surroundings. This poorly maintained functionalist architecture now exhibits numerous disorders. The fragmentation of the buildings and the successive additions have made the complex difficult to read and dysfunctional.
The existing secondary school is symptomatic of an ordinary heritage from the 70s that is widely discredited. Its transformation is now a necessity to meet contemporary environmental challenges. This implies considering it from a renewed perspective, as a legacy to be managed, a resource available rather than starting from scratch.
Beyond updating to standards and thermal renovation of the building, the intervention aims to achieve a formal and programmatic clarification of the entire site to relieve congestion in the currently overcrowded school with 550 students, while increasing its capacity to 600. The project strategy must also consider the need for construction in an occupied site, thus requiring phasing.
Tectoniques' approach initially involves making an unbiased diagnosis. It's about working with what is there, repairing and revealing the qualities of the existing, in this case, the rationality of the construction system that allows for the adaptability of the structure. The new image is thus a result, not a presupposition. The intervention aims to alleviate the complexity inherited from the existing situation to provide optimal long-term functionality. This is achieved through the simplicity and honesty of the architectural and construction mechanisms.
Initially, the multiple additions are removed. The extension then continues the existing structure to the east to add an educational block and the cafeteria, and to the west to reconnect the previously isolated SEGPA center. The volume is also raised by one floor to create additional classrooms. This reconfiguration establishes a hierarchy between the buildings that were previously very equivalent and generates a more homogeneous and coherent whole.
The courtyard has been moved to the south, towards the city, where a new entrance forecourt is accompanied by a canopy that also serves as a bicycle storage area. The entrance hall has been repositioned centrally, at the barycenter of the plan, defining a clear sequence from the public space. It opens onto a vast atrium equipped with a monumental stepped staircase that leads directly to the Centre for Culture and Knowledge extending northward. This space redefines a central point within this fragmented complex. It acts as a pivot at the junction of the different wings and allows for better orientation within the facility due to its vertical openness and landscape views. The juxtaposition of different construction periods is made visible through the exposed structure.
The existing structure was built using a 'Stribick' prefabrication process based on concrete floor boxes, previously concealed by a false ceiling. These boxes are sandblasted. Revealing this structure characterizes the atmospheres, improves thermal mass, and makes the way the building is constructed intelligible. The existing framework is considered as a generative system for the extension. The new parts reinterpret the box floors by proposing a wooden solution of identical proportions. This lineage between two construction methods blurs the distinction between old and new.
The project is based on an ambitious environmental approach that promotes the use of local resources, whether through the extensive use of Jura Wood (640 m3) or the enhancement of regional expertise. Previously rightly described as a 'thermal sieve,' the building envelope has been significantly improved with external thermal insulation made of wood wool. The largely prefabricated timber construction, with limited disturbances, is also an appropriate response to the challenges of a phased construction site in an occupied location.
The facades are clad with green standing seam aluminum cassettes, evoking the metallic gables of the Jura region and the forest character of the area. The south facade is enhanced with wide sun protection overhangs suspended by a slender metal structure. These projections protect the facades and cover the longitudinal exterior walkway. The composition in horizontal bands alternates between aluminum and wood cladding, interspersed with large windows. This new envelope unifies the existing and the new.
