KAGAN Architectures, N. Régnier-Kagan architect – Lycée Aristide Briand: hollowed out volume

PROJECT: KAGAN Architectures, N. Régnier-Kagan architect – Lycée Aristide Briand: hollowed out volume

LOCATION: Le Blanc-Mesnil

YEAR: 2017

ARCHITECT / FIRM: KAGAN Architectures, N. Régnier-Kagan architect, J.Avignon, A.César, D.Toubanos, J. Zaffaroni, collaborators

BUYER: REGION ILE DE FRANCE, client SEQUANO, project management

SURFACE: 1.670 sqm

PRICE: € 4.107.000

DESCRIPTION:
The project is organized in a simple and rational composition: it is a compact and regular prismatic shape, on a squared plan of 31 m. side. The volume is carved into the mass with patios, terraces and faults in view to fulfil all requirements of day lighting ventilation and organization. An access axis north to south determine a spine and the split line between the large spaces of the shops and CDI, and the smaller teaching rooms, lockers rooms and offices. It is more than a lobby, it is also a circulation gallery and a meeting space enlighten at its centre by the staircase and the upper floor patio. The cast in place concrete facade ensures the edifice perenniality and its columns and beams structure a maximum flexibility for the layouts and an timeless evolution. The horizontal steel components of the shades give the building the scale of a small public building which takes into consideration the solar orientations and defines a building clearly identifiable.

DESCRIPTION:
The project consisted of the demolition-reconstruction of two existing buildings that are obsolete in terms of use and energy consumption: a triangular building from the 90s featuring the high school documentation center, a parallelepipedic building from the 80s located north of the plot, comprising the workshops. The regrouping of the programs in one building, made it possible to set up a more compact building, less consuming in terms of energy and surface, to vegetate the part north of the ground, and to complete the courtyard, to give it back its shape, and improve its relationship to existing preserved buildings. In addition, the realization of a linear canopy, allowed to connect the buildings between them, and the redefinition of the entrance, to improve its visibility from the street.

DESCRIPTION:
The investor is the property owner. This is a restructuring in the existing vocational high school, funded entirely by the region Ile de France, that is to say, regional public funds.

- SURFACE present EXTENSION,

PREVALENT CONSERVATION / CONTINUITY: The overall dimensions increase moderately with respect to the pre-existing surface.

- VOLUME present EXTENSION,

PREVALENT CONSERVATION / CONTINUITY: The overall dimensions increase moderately with respect to the pre-existing volume.

DESCRIPTION:
The project involves the demolition and reconstruction of a technical workshop and the documentation and information center (CDI) of the Aristide Briand vocational high school in Blanc-Mesnil. It is located in the existing high school precinct, on the site of the current CDI, and is not accessible directly from the street. It is a compact volume with an awning to house and connect the different entrances of adjacent buildings. The project is in direct relationship with the high school court. The demolished area is 1545 m2, the built area is 1670 m2: an extension of 125 m2.

DESCRIPTION:
The transformation of the entrance is an important element of the project: the demolition of 2 existing gantries, out of scale, and the taking into account of the geometry of the oldest building, allowed a better readability of the entry of the high school from the street.

DESCRIPTION:
The choice of a concrete structure in post-beams allows the flexibility of spaces for possible transformation in time.

DESCRIPTION:
The choice of reinforced concrete, was made in a will of perenity of the material, simplicity and economy of implementation (no coating, interior insulation). The materials used are cast concrete in situ and some prefabricated elements, aluminum joinery, and resin flooring poured into the circulations. The CDI is dressed in acoustic wood panels and parquet flooring. The outdoor terraces are dressed with slabs on wooden blocks.

DESCRIPTION:
The decision to locate the CDI at the centre of the project comes from a will to incite the students to stroll around that space. Natural light is an important part of the project: each traffic area is lit by the patios upstairs. The CDI is lit by concrete sheds. Classrooms and workshops all have a direct relationship with the outside world.