Vibrant shades of pink and orange enliven the rustic wood facade of this school building, located at the center of a mixed-income neighborhood. To minimize disruption from an adjacent tramway depot, teaching space is concentrated in the northern part of the building, and a two-tiered elementary school yard occupies the upper floors to the south.
Walls enclosing the yard are angled to maximize daylight penetration into the central courtyard. The elementary school hall ceilings are made of the same bark-covered logs that clad the facades. The compact, almost-square plot accommodates two separate schoolsβpreschool and elementaryβserving children aged 3 to Each school required its own entrance, internal circulation, and outdoor play areas.
Space also had to be made for an after-hours study center and a gym that can operate independently. Options for access were limited, as the site overlooks a park to the north but adjoins housing to the west and a busy tram depot to the south.
A complicated social context imposed additional demands. The school aims to draw children from both the new private apartment buildings around it and decayed public housing projects to the east; it acts as a meeting point for two communities whose lives rarely intersect. Beginning with a four-story block that fully covers the site and oversails tram tracks to the south, Coulon carved out an angular central void to make a yard for the preschool.
Deep niches in the north facade shelter entrances and link the courtyard to the park, while overhangs shade south-facing glazing. Indentations to the upper stories carry daylight deep into the interior and add further articulation. Entrance foyers, offices, and cafeterias occupy the ground level, with the preschool on the second floor and the elementary school on the two floors above.
