School System Les Bertelottes

School system Les Bartelottes, kindergarten and elementary school, gymnasium and Dojo, and staff accommodation.

To meet the increase in its population, the municipality of La Ville du Bois, in the south of Paris, decided to build in its new neighbourhood a school and a sports equipment. The agency “NOMADE architectes” has designed a functional and sustainable project.

An ecological transition

The program is complex, it is about having a school, a gymnasium and staff accommodation on the same parcel. Taking place between the suburban area of the city and the protected area of ​​the surrounding forest, it is composed of three entities which gather gracefully with the slope.

While the school building with two enclosed patios adopts various altimetry, the gymnasium on the north side of the parcel is a remarkable volume highlighted by a multitude of vertical lines. As for the Dojo, it buries in the southern part of the gymnasium while artfully opening on the landscape. Therefore, the different volumes create a subtle dialogue with the surrounding nature. 

A full-scale awareness tool

Ecology, which is within the architects concerns, is revealed in this project at its most beautiful effect by providing users a full-scale awareness tool. Whether it’s through the wooden school structure or through the finishing of the two adjacent entities, it emanates from the project a fondness for green and sustainable materials. As for the presence of shiny stainless steel (Uginox Bright) which decorates the gymnasium, it gives it a more atypical effect which, while reflecting the surrounding landscape, designs a smooth transition between nature and the city.

The two patios which are at the heart of the school provide interior brightness while fulfilling their role as natural occupation within the building. Thus, while reminding of the landscape it offers a field of experimentation and initiation for children. As for the

administrative centre, it is located at the northwest corner of the building and includes the teacher’s rooms and their service areas.