School playground
The site is the existing mineral courtyard of the municipal school, extended by a former orchard enclosed by a stone wall and open to the street. The project’s layout was guided by the desire to preserve this vegetal and built heritage. In an effort to protect biodiversity, combat urban heat islands, and manage rainwater responsibly, we retained the existing high-stemmed trees and incorporated their species (magnolia, fig, pear) into the courtyard’s redesign. The stone wall, meanwhile, was dismantled, and its blocks were reused as cladding for the new outdoor restroom building.
The shelter, like a vessel, rests on a surface that is both vegetal and mineral—a base for children’s play and a refuge for biodiversity. The restroom building, nestled within the thickness of the perimeter walls, blends seamlessly into the courtyard’s design. By removing impermeable surfaces, new cool islands were created. Designed as an inclusive and unifying shelter for the municipal school’s students, the structure is supported by a central row of four columns. Its perimeter is left undefined, creating a fluid and diffuse transition between inside and outside. The placement of supports solely along the central axis eliminates any sense of hierarchy, making the space centrifugal. Far from being an arena monopolized by a single group, the shelter accommodates multiple uses simultaneously, allowing everyone to find their place. The axial veil, which forms the ridge of the structure, channels both water and light. Light reflects off it, illuminating the heart of the space, while water is collected before being directed into a rain garden. Visible to the students, this system transforms a technical necessity into an educational tool, giving the shelter a didactic dimension.
The new constructions make the most of the existing context. The outdoor restroom building is a traditional masonry structure, reusing the site’s stones as façade cladding. The shelter is a hybrid framework composed of wooden beams cantilevered over four metal crosses. The axial veil forming the ridge, made of a lattice, serves as the structure’s general bracing. Its cladding functions as a technical layer capable of providing light and harvesting rainwater. The use of metal buttons as ridge assemblies creates luminous fissures at the center of the project.
