This €79 million renovation, financed by the Région Île-de-France, is set to be the first high school campus for artificial intelligence [AI] in France.

Not one school day will be missed by 1,420 students because of the large-scale deconstruction and extension. Classes will continue as usual until the extensive retrofit is completed in 2026. This may sound a bit like changing the wheels of a school bus while it is in motion, but that is what Bouygues Bâtiment Ile-de-France/ Bouygues Construction are doing.

The renovation is an excellent example of how mass timber is helping the local government with its emergency efforts to fight old-school dilapidation and to cope with demographic pressure on the region’s schools.

Once completed, the campus will have the capacity for more students (both collège pupils and older lycée/high school and middle schoolers) with well-thought-out circulation flows that allow splitting the students who differ in age, behaviour and needs while still sharing facilities.

The enlarged campus will allow more overall space and welcome preparatory classes for engineering and business schools, with collaborative spaces for 3D printing/fablab and as a forward-thinking AI campus.

Bioclimatic construction is the design of buildings that make the most of natural resources and the surrounding environment's climatic conditions to maximise energy efficiency. And that is exactly what architects Engasser+Associés intended for this with their pragmatic and flexible design set to achieve BBCA, BREEAM VG, HQE E, Effinergie standards using a variety of methods, including:

- a new reinforced envelope with double glazing for airtightness

- double flow ventilation

- adjustable sunshades

- Re-using the existing fabric, such as the suspended ceilings and cabinets in other parts of the new structure-

- working in close alignment with all of the partners to fully optimise the use of materials and the school’s budget with a sustainable Sylva™ CLT kit by Stora Enso.

The Sylva school, in a kit of offsite manufactured parts, is being used to add a mass timber floor across three parts of the existing building, resulting in a vertical extension that won't significantly increase the overall load. Bouygues will also add a common activity building with a horizontal extension.

The work will be carried out in a series of phases according to the existing diaphragm joints (vertical cores/lift shafts, etc.). By working section by section intend to control noise pollution for the students and teachers so classes can continue with as little disruption as possible.

When interviewed, the lead architect, Gaetan Engasser, told Stora Enso that one of the key benefits of working with prefabricated mass timber is that it enables all of the stakeholders to be fully engaged in the ‘preparatory phase, resulting in a quick and smooth construction process, because all the problems have been considered and dealt with upstream’.

Engasser went on to say that the key to that success is the partnership ‘with Bouygues, who deliver high-quality worksite thanks to all of their meticulous detail work that is considered fully using prototypes and synthesis beforehand’.

Read more:

https://agenceengasser.com/portfolio/renovation-globale-de-la-cite-mixte-regionale-paul-valery/?c=agenceengasser.com