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Prinvault: J. Moulin school

Replacing a school destroyed in an arson attack in 2009, the new building designed by Prinvault Architectes in Bernay, Normandy, has overcome the traumatic loss with a range of 1,000 colorful cladding strips that match the colors of fire.

The Jean Moulin elementary school, built in Bernay (Normandy) in 2012 by Prinvault Architectes (Paris) replaces a school destroyed in an arson attack in 2009.

Prinvault: Scuola J. Moulin — Prinvault Architectes, Jean Moulin school, Bernay, 2012. Photo David Cousin-Marsy

The project satisfies three requests of the municipality: to adjust the size of the school to the current local schooling needs, to redefine the nature of the relation to the existing family center and to rejuvenate the area with a contemporary building.

Built on a single level, the building is organized around a central corridor with niches recessed to accommodate benches and create various informal spaces for children.

Different sized windows frame multiple views of the court, the sky or the treetops. The building skeleton is a timber frame structure, its roof is green and the heating burns wood.

The new building has hence overcome the traumatic loss with its range of 1,000 colorful cladding strips that match the colors fire: a digitized photo revealed a spectrum of 2.5% black, 2.5% zinc yellow, 2.5% yellow gold, 2.5% red-brown, 25% orange-red, burgundy 25%, and 40% carmine red. A random formula Excel is then used to generate the distribution of the 1,000 strips the facade cladding component.

Jean Moulin school
Bernay, France
Architects: François Prinvault/Prinvault Architectes
Collaborators: Mathieu Honorat, Sophie Abou-Haidar, Camille Marchand, Denis Milhaud, Antoine Marro
Consultants: Echos, Cayla, Alpha Bet
Main Contractors: Poulingue, SMCB
Client: Ville de Bernay
Area: 747 mq
Completion: 2012
Photography: David Cousin-Marsy

Get the best of Domus straight to your inbox!

Prinvault: J. Moulin school

Replacing a school destroyed in an arson attack in 2009, the new building designed by Prinvault Architectes in Bernay, Normandy, has overcome the traumatic loss with a range of 1,000 colorful cladding strips that match the colors of fire.

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