Hélène Carrère d'Encausse school, Marly

Located at one of the entrances to the city, the school group announces the renewal of Marly. The reunion of the Nelson Mandela and Louise Michel schools is a strong political act that must be embodied by a unifying and emblematic school facility. The neighboring plot of land, currently uncultivated, will become a park for the inhabitants and will constitute a green lung associated with the space of the playgrounds. This vegetal landscape constitutes the base of the project. A school turned towards nature, in the heart of the trees. During the studies, it became apparent that the cost of rehabilitating the Dupont house was excessive in relation to its potential and it will therefore disappear. It has marked the territory and the memory of the place and its demolition will have to be accompanied by a symbolic moment for the inhabitants of Marly. The implantation of the building offers several levels of reading.
Two branches rise up and meet in one towards the heart of the park. One comes from the east,
the other from the west, like the students of the future school. This junction divides the southern part of the park into two playgrounds corresponding to the two schools.

They are oriented east and west and open onto the park and its large trees to the north of the parcel and are protected from the prevailing winds carrying the noise pollution of the highway and the dense city.
Through the morphology of the building, as well as through the path that crosses the park, the project creates physical links in the city, which translate the will of union, of gathering, of happy mix. This union is also that of the urban and natural landscapes. The challenge of the school group is to address both the city and the exterior, and to create a protective interiority for the children. The project develops a play of curves and counter-curves to make the link between the different elements of the program and the associated exterior spaces. The project is developed on two levels, a brick base and a wooden attic. The first level in brick draws and affirms the alignment with the future planted mall. Its angles are softened by solid curves. A curved inflection widens the entrance square protected by large planted flowerbeds. The entrances to the two schools are marked by recessed inflections in the facade.