School of Business and General Education
The new business and general education school is located south of the CFF railway tracks, marking, along with the mobility infrastructure, the development of the city of Sierre beyond the tracks. The Bellevue plain is thus equipped with a second educational facility, following the University of Applied Sciences for Social Work. The site is characterized by two reference levels: the first opening to the north onto the CFF station and to the west onto the Route de la Monderêche, and the second opening to the south and east onto the Bellevue plain. The school’s position, straddling the slope break, allows for a clear separation of programs. The school has two entrances: the first is located at the level of the bus station, and the second at the level of the pedestrian bridge connecting the northern part of the city to the CFF station. The entrance to the gymnasium is located on the lower level.
The school’s design offers a typology that aligns with the requirements and specificities of the educational level it houses. A belt of classrooms is served by a balcony-like walkway overlooking the large central space, which is bathed in light. This central space, animated by the interplay of stair flights, becomes the reference and identity space of the school. The classrooms arranged around the central space benefit from varied orientations and lighting.
The ground floor hosts public facilities, including the restaurant and two auditoriums shared with HES-SO, which also occupies the upper level. The concrete structure addresses the challenge of stacking school programs above the double sports hall, with the load of the four large walls transferred to the periphery. This results in V-shaped structures ensuring seismic stability. The glass façades, adorned with polished stainless-steel mirror-finish folded cladding as guardrails, reveal the structure. The interior materialization is simple: exposed concrete, transparent or tinted glass, and aluminum cladding elements.
