Jacques De Vaucanson High School

Jacques De Vaucanson High School
© Cecile Septet

JACQUES DE VAUCANSON HIGH SCHOOL

Colboc Franzen & Associés

LOCATION
Tours, France

CATEGORY
High School

AREA
1950.0 m²

PROJECT YEAR
2012

PHOTOGRAPHS
Cécile Septet

Text description provided by architect.

The art of dentistry on an occupied site In the suburbs of Tours, in the late 80s, a large concrete vessel dedicated to teaching was constructed, the Jacques de Vaucanson High School.

Jacques De Vaucanson High School
© Cecile Septet
Jacques De Vaucanson High School
© Cecile Septet

It affirms an orthogonal composition of geometric shape, relayed by a work of genius on the cuts, displaying an absolute belief in the architecture. But this act of bravery has been overtaken by time.

The areas of activity have eroded the surrounding land, low maintenance budgets have prematurely aged it, thermal standards have changed, and the number of students will increase: it must be restructured.

It was necessary to study the inner workings of the school and support uses, giving meaning to the existing buildings.

Jacques De Vaucanson High School
© Cecile Septet
Jacques De Vaucanson High School
© Cecile Septet
Jacques De Vaucanson High School
© Cecile Septet

From the hoppers that are in this way filled, to the beaten down partitions. In order to ensure the unity of the whole, the original services are recreated identically.

Only the self, as a strong and identifiable design element, benefits from specific treatment.

The double high ceilings, originally intended to be filled and thus increase the carrying capacity, are not enough: it must also be enlarged. How to intervene on this recent heritage whose ground plan seems rigid and resistant to any extension?

Jacques De Vaucanson High School
© Cecile Septet
Jacques De Vaucanson High School
© Cecile Septet

The strategy followed was that of the dentist involved in a difficult area: two fillings and a "bridge".

The initial ground plan managed the hollowed-out teeth carefully, insulating the functions, now filled by the teachers’ dining room and auditorium.

Jacques De Vaucanson High School
© Cecile Septet
Jacques De Vaucanson High School
© Cecile Septet

These extensions are topped with a glass fence, protecting a suspended garden, benefiting the documentation centre on the first floor of the existing building.

Spanning the courtyard, an inhabited bridge 60 metres long connects the day school to the boarding school. It offers a covered ground floor connection, housing classrooms upstairs.

Jacques De Vaucanson High School
© Cecile Septet
Jacques De Vaucanson High School
© Cecile Septet

The piles of the bridge, supporting the facade girders of two levels, are integrated into a building body constructed on the ground floor.

It welcomes a weightlifting gym, office and baggage room. On the other side of the courtyard, the support piles lean against the existing building. The displaced façade allows them to disappear.

Jacques De Vaucanson High School
Jacques De Vaucanson High School
© Cecile Septet

The early obsolescence of the buildings inherited from the twentieth century is not inevitable.  By accepting its architectural composition enclosed by respectful interventions, but assuming their difference, the Jacques de Vaucanson High School has won a second youth.

We bet that in a few years, new requirements will lead to other interventions. Finally, the architectural concretion that has been obtained accompanies the evolution of these territories of contemporary peri-urban: an exquisite corpse generating a form of continuity in the rupture.

Jacques De Vaucanson High School
© Cecile Septet
Jacques De Vaucanson High School
© Cecile Septet


Jacques De Vaucanson High School
Elevation
Jacques De Vaucanson High School
Elevation


Jacques De Vaucanson High School
Section
Jacques De Vaucanson High School
Section
Jacques De Vaucanson High School
Section


Jacques De Vaucanson High School
Ground Floor Plan
Jacques De Vaucanson High School
First Floor Plan
Jacques De Vaucanson High School
Second Floor Plan
Jacques De Vaucanson High School
Roof Floor Plan


Jacques De Vaucanson High School
Section Detail
Jacques De Vaucanson High School
Situation