Barrault Pressacco

In the midst of a major transformation, the Deux-Rives district links the 20th century city and the Eurometropolis in a continuity embodied by an ambitious project of urban renewal. Nestled between the Vauban basin and the Petit-Rhin Park, our project derives its uniquely Rhineland identity from the omnipresence of brickwork, its industrial silhouette and its ambitions linking city and nature. As the only public facility in the area, the school occupies a singular place and must contribute to the desired urban intensity. The positioning of the building along a public alley frees a consequential piece of landscape. The expression of emptiness and vegetation triggers a “public event” in the heart of the district and inspires a first impression of monumentality for the school. The division of the volume in response to the topography leads to a staggered figure, common to the whole district. Its unique profile is the result of an internal spatial research combining light and natural ventilation. Its design oscillates between abstraction and necessity and recalls 'déjà-vu' archetypes: the silo, the hangar, the emergence, the roof, the mass. Constructed in reused bricks, the project implements a strategy of resilience and circular economy.