Client: General Council of Gard

The aim of the rehabilitation of the Gaston Doumergue College was to give a new image to the entrance of the establishment.

This College was built in the 1980s and has undergone many transformations that have resulted in fragmented outdoor spaces that are difficult to use. It was necessary to succeed in clarifying the outdoor spaces and to renew the relationship of the building to the public space.

By providing a radical element, in its form and materiality, the project offers all the functions, access and protections needed by students. The idea was to create an intervention that could manage the flow of students, create a link between the college upper floor and the playground and protect users from bad weather. These needs have been grouped together in the form of a programmatic band, as a link between the forecourt and the College.

As a continuous line, the project adapts to the needs, it thickens to mark the entrance and tilts to give access to the upper floor. The guardian's lodge slips into the courtyard and continues the vertical vocabulary of the new fence, which is set back from the public space to create a protected area outside the College compound.

The galvanized steel underside reflects the passage of students mixed with the variations of natural light, thus offering a sensory project that accompanies the student permanently. This desire to put forward a sensitive side in the architecture of the yard allows to create a game with the schoolboys and a journey always renewed.

This renovation allowed to create a new space easily adoptable by the users. It is a place that runs without imposing and that welcomes while offering a sense of security to childrens.

It is ultimately a simple intervention that repositioned clear elements in the recreation area and allows everyone to rediscover a pleasant and essential place for the proper functioning of the establishment.