AGORA Campus / ArtBuild

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Text description provided by the architects.AGORA is the cornerstone of a series of renovations to provide the National Veterinary School of Alfort (École Nationale Vétérinaire d'Alfort - EnvA) campus with state-of-the-art teaching and research tools. This iconic training facility in the Maisonnais region, covering nearly 10 hectares, is listed in the supplementary register of historical monuments and has just celebrated its 250th anniversary. The new facility opens a new chapter in the school's prestigious history.Built on the site of the Brion building dating from the late 1920s, the AGORA project (with a surface area of 4,500 m²) occupies a central location on the site, not only because of its program but also because of its location. As the first hospital to treat domestic animals on an outpatient basis, the heritage aspects of the Brion building, a remarkable example of Art-Deco architecture dating from 1928, have been carefully analyzed. Many details of the existing entrance façade have been preserved and fit perfectly into the architectural sequence of the building as well as the campus.Indeed, the main entrance with its three monumental wrought iron gates is the end of a landscaped axis, the first part of which will form the new entrance to the site, closer to public transport. Imagined by EnvA as a unitary and unifying building that brings together students, administrative staff, and teachers, the Agora project proved to be an opportunity to convey current environmental values, such as reducing the carbon footprint and reusing and the use of bio-sourced materials.The architectural team has endeavored to sublimate the (re)generative potential of the Agora by proposing places of expression and conviviality, which are relatively rare on the scale of the campus. Emphasis was placed on the presence of recesses and nooks, continuity, and visual outlets to informal usage spaces generating interactions between users.This “iconic” project sets an example for the campus, as it is the first building with a bio sourced structure. Indeed, except for the central core, the project gives pride of place to wood construction, penetrating even the most domestic of spaces with sensory touches.Imagined as an “iconic” place by its future users, the AGORA will provide accommodation on three levels: six teaching rooms that can be modularised by means of suspended mobile walls, two amphitheaters with wooden stands seating 250 people each, collaborative workspaces, and an 80-seat amphitheater for the continuing education of professionals, a multi-purpose room for training on mannequins (Vet'Sims), all of the school's administrative services, as well as a logistical and storage area in the basement.The ecological concerns also extend to the reuse of the bricks of the Brion building, which has been partly dismantled, as well as to the conservation of the northern façades of the building and of the whole of its rubble stone foundations. The ensuing dialogue between old and new bricks helps to engage the Agora building in an authentic and calming harmony with the neighboring buildings from which it draws its inspiration and deference.