Joséphine Baker Middle School / Panorama Architecture

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The project’s overall quality provides both students and teachers with generous pleasantly liveable premises.Text description provided by the architects.The middle school, built in 1966 and now renamed after Josephine Baker, just underwent a radical transformation. Replacing an aging building on the same site, the entirely new building provides students and teachers with greatly enriched surroundings and opens a new chapter in the school’s history. The new construction also has the capacity to receive 600 students and possesses an auditorium and a gymnasium.Project challenges.The project is part of a complex urban site. The school stands in an isolated urban zone, in a very noisy environment owing to the nearby motorway. The main challenge of the project was to complete a total renovation while attempting to reduce the site’s inconveniences. Thus, the new middle school is located on the south end of the plot in a V-shaped building whose base rests on the entrance forecourt.Architectural qualities.The Mediterranean-inspired architectural stance gives the building a protective look thanks to its walls and its overall mass. It also benefits from the generous presence of natural light and the interplay of shadow and sunscreens. The school’s compactness responds to both the constraints of the site as well as to the need to consider sustainable development and more generally to obtain savings through the project.