The multiple stratifications of a primary school in France

The piece of modernist architecture built in the 50s and object of the renovation, stands in the town of Saint-Gilles, in Southern France, on the edge between the city centre and the suburban fabric. Built as the city's public baths, the building was converted into a primary school at the end of the 1970s. The recent renovation works signed by NAS architecture and funded by the city hall provide for the redevelopment of the building and its extension, contributing to the densification of the urban centre through the enhancement of its historic buildings.

The designers introduce a new wooden structure; a regular and rigorous grid, filled in by glass surfaces and aluminium panels raised at an irregular rhythm which contrasts with the rounded corners and ornaments of the historic building. The assembled on site wooden structure, favoured for its lightness and speed of construction, shapes the identity of the spaces of the school, adds to its acoustic performance, guarantees the building's flexibility and evolution over time and creates a welcoming atmosphere perfectly suitable for learning.

The openings let the landscape enter into the classrooms, giving rhythm to the portions of the city they frame. At dawn they reveal the structure of the spaces in a transparent way, in opposition to the reflections and opaqueness of the curtains during the day. In the plan, the new structure identifies an atrium, a meeting place that also promotes a connection between the renovated spaces on the ground floor and those on the upper floor. The expansion project results in a complementary architecture, capable of giving the school a new identity fully respectful of its past.