HIGH SCHOOL EMILE MAX
Emile Max’s high school consists of the extension of a 19th-century building, assembling new classrooms for an added capacity of 130 students. A new thin and linear structure is added to the playground in parallel to the extension.
The project’s elements have been sequenced to imagine the pupils’ learning milestones.
The school’s architecture has been studied within a three-folded dimension: activity, silence, and light.
These components become alive through the materiality and the spatial organization of activities.
Depending on where the classroom is located, whether having views on the streets or on the backside courtyard, the qualities of each situation have fostered diverse learning environments.
The extension is accessible by a new staircase, considered the continuation of the three playgrounds and gathering spaces. Meeting and putting people in relation with each other is a key aspect of a school’s life. On the other hand, the backyard’s new structure responds to the demand of a new typology of outside gathering space.