Pays de Retz High School

 

The insulation against the "Blue Route" and its noise pollution, the complexity of the site's topography and the emphasis laid on the existing hedgerows with trees, the management of the various flows of circulation and the school's exposure to the territorial space are all constraints which have been turned to good account in our architectural response.

 

The project is expressed in the general shape of two juxtaposed volumes, hugging the slope of the terrain. A third, from which the site's functional links originate, provides the composition's centrality and articulation.

 

A first compact volume to the north, on the second floor, makes contrasting use of its facades.

- A stretched north facade, asserting its horizontality, devoid of any relief.

- A south facade, alternating full volumes and glazed rifts protected from exposure to the sun, giving priority to the viewpoints over the intervening spaces (the forecourt and the recreation yard).

 

A second volume to the south, on the first floor, with contextual and divided shapes.

 

A third volume (the Hall, the Forum, and the Bioclimatic playground) emerges from the previous one to form a luminous vault, capturing heat for the project.

 

The buildings arise with great simplicity, and strike a successful balance between contrast and overall consistency.

 

The facades are for the most part covered with a wooden cladding above a mineral base, very naturally evoking seaside architecture, which is representative of the communal identity.