Pont-Saint-Martin

To preserve the remarkable trees on the site, but also to benefit from beautiful light in the rooms, we chose a northeast orientation, which dictated the shape of the building. Thus, the floors are staggered, starting from the courtyard and moving away from it, forming a giant staircase.

The challenge of this project was to create a building that would become a landmark, while retaining a rural feel in keeping with the scale of the community. This play on offset and programmatic dimensions reveals terraces on each floor.

The terrace on the first floor becomes a huge outdoor space for older children to play. The overhang of the administrative floor creates a covered playground that will provide shade for children in hot weather. Its shape symbolizes the sports street with a playful and symbolic gabled roof, a feature found on all school facilities in the city. Thus, the building's volume adapts to the neighboring structures with neutral but warm colors.

The cantilevered entrance, which seems to look towards the lime tree, also serves as a landmark. The project's volume conveys a richness and sophistication that gives it an immediate identity. It asserts its status and uniqueness as a public building. Through these volumetric features, it appeals to children's imaginations.

During the next phases of the project, we want to propose the use of color as a signage medium in the service of architecture. Beyond simple visual identification, this strategy will enable us to offer spaces with identities that are as strong as they are varied, in contrast to the monotonous language that is still too common. These places will serve as spatial landmarks scattered throughout the childhood and youth center and its outdoor areas, as well as places for meeting and exchange.

Extending this logic, the furniture will be chosen to encourage different uses of the space. The furniture used in outdoor spaces will have a simple, clean design that meets criteria for robustness and durability and requires only limited maintenance. The colors of the courtyards echo those of the city's coat of arms.