Elementary School Claudie Haigneré

PrizeSilver in Architectural Design / Educational Buildings
Firm LocationParis, France
CompanyVallet De Martinis
ClientCity of Châtellerault

The proposed primary school is part of a wider redevelopment of the island of the old hospital in the town of Chatellerault context. Located on a place forming the historic entrance to the city, overlooking the coming and presenting landscape and heritage qualities remarkable , the transaction represents a major challenge for the future of Chatellerault. The purpose’s project is double: Achieving urban planning capable of uniting the neighborhood renewal and enabling residents to reclaim this site in the heart of the city, and build a school that is thanks to its spatial qualities and architecture, a strong and identifiable signal while providing the best reception conditions for all users. To achieve this goal, we developed the project in strata. The first is a base anchored in the site, it shows the topography of the site and its history. It is also the starting point of our thinking on urban regeneration . The second is characterized by a segmented volume, conducive to necessary porosity functions of the reception The latter takes the form of a rectangular monolith that redraws the island to confirm the presence of the public building. All echoed by opposition between materiality, gravity and light , privacy and openness in the country. This stratification’s project is a simply answer to the program. On the ground floor, the kindergarten , on the first floor, the primary school . The strategic positioning of the former bastion at the corner of the city guided the urban and integration and landscaping of the project. This particular geography, topography , archaeological remains and water-related constraints were lead our development proposal. If the strict volume seems to freeze the project it is well a building in movement that appears to walkers .