Day Nursery and Toy Library

Day Nursery and Toy Library
© Thibaut Voisin

Day Nursery and Toy Library 

a+samueldelmas architectes

MANUFACTURERS
Lighting, Marmoleneum, Prismo Gold, Solid Wood Grill Ceiling

ESTRUCTURAL ENGINEERING
Batiserf

DESIGN DEVELOPMENT PROJECT LEADER
Guillaume Trubert

PROJECT DESIGN MANAGER
Giuseppe Tasquier

PROJECT CONSTRUCTION MANAGER
Marine Piboin

PROJECT MANAGER
Guillaume Trubert

ENVIRONMENT ENGINEERING
Étamine

DESIGN TEAM (PROJECT DEVELOPMENT)
Giuseppe Tasquier, Marine Piboin

COMPETITION PROJECT LEADER
Giueseppe Tasquier

DIRECTOR
Samuel Delmar

ACOUSTICIAN
Meta

FLUID ENGINEERING
B-52

ECONOMIST
Vpeas

AREA
1075 M²

PHOTOGRAPHS
Thibaut Voisin

YEAR
2023

LOCATION
Velizy-villacoublay, France

CATEGORY
Day Care

This 100% wood and reused biobased construction project, sitting at the foot of a '60s tower block, is fully in line with the redefinition of the Louvois district in Vélizy.

Day Nursery and Toy Library
© Thibaut Voisin
Day Nursery and Toy Library
© Thibaut Voisin

Following the demolition of the commercial slab linking the blocks, a new floor has been created in a revamped complex.

The natural ground, with its gently undulating landscape, reclaims its rights. Here, the redevelopment of the neighborhood revolves around a landscaped basin and a new axis where shop windows are clad in wood.

Day Nursery and Toy Library
© Thibaut Voisin
Day Nursery and Toy Library
© Thibaut Voisin

(District’s landscape designer: Urbicus). Formerly made up of cellars on the edge of an under-slab car park, the project will breathe new life into this new basement level with a double public facility: a day nursery and a toy library.

The work on the 5th facade has enabled us to create a new, living ‘soil’ in front of the flats above, with soil complexes of up to one meter and real trees to come.

Day Nursery and Toy Library
© Thibaut Voisin
Day Nursery and Toy Library
© Thibaut Voisin

We also proposed and were awarded, the task of cladding the foot of the facade of the existing building, in keeping with the materiality of the construction, in order to remove any impression of addition and recreate visual unity.

To complete the contextual approach, we directly reused materials recovered during the demolition in progress, at the start of the project.

Day Nursery and Toy Library
© Thibaut Voisin
Day Nursery and Toy Library
© Thibaut Voisin

For example, we were able to extract slabs of schist and tree trunks and reintegrate them into the new building.

As soon as you enter, the space opens up onto an interior…a double-height that allows you to read the section above or a patio.

Day Nursery and Toy Library
© Thibaut Voisin
Day Nursery and Toy Library
© Thibaut Voisin

The Comblanchien limestone floor, used in public areas, enters the hall. Its pinkish hue is also used to articulate a mineral base on the most exposed faces.

The facade is protected by a grid of poplar slats spaced every 45 centimeters and underlined by sheets of coppery zinc.

Day Nursery and Toy Library
© Thibaut Voisin
Day Nursery and Toy Library
© Thibaut Voisin

The building can be read as opaque from the outside, and seen as open from the rooms.

The children's sections are soft and flow between intimate patios and play gardens.

Day Nursery and Toy Library
© Thibaut Voisin
Day Nursery and Toy Library
© Thibaut Voisin
Day Nursery and Toy Library
© Thibaut Voisin

All dressed in wood – which is also structural – the sunshade slats protect, and disappear at ground level, leaving an unobstructed view just for the children.

The joists, accompanied by linear light strips and skylights, direct the eye outwards, the floors are continuous and the space is fluid.

Sometimes suspended, sometimes supported, the wood plays in all its forms.

Day Nursery and Toy Library
© Thibaut Voisin
Day Nursery and Toy Library
© Thibaut Voisin
Day Nursery and Toy Library
© Thibaut Voisin

Wooden furniture accompanies the interior atmosphere, while ball or ring-shaped lighting fixtures highlight singular spaces.


Day Nursery and Toy Library
Ground Floor Plan
Day Nursery and Toy Library
First Floor Plan
Day Nursery and Toy Library
Site Plan


Day Nursery and Toy Library
Section
Day Nursery and Toy Library
Axonometric


Day Nursery and Toy Library
Detail
Day Nursery and Toy Library
Detail