• PROJECT
    Strasbourg Nationale School of Architecture
  • LOCATION
    Strasbourg
  • CLIENT
    OPPIC
  • PROJECT MANAGEMENT
    Marc Mimram Architecture et Ingénierie, Alto Ingénierie, Peutz & Associés
  • DATES
    2008 – 2014
  • AREA
    8,457 m² Renovation of the school and extension. New school "La Fabrique" 4,500 m². Renovation "Le Garage" 4,400 m²
  • COST
    13,4 M€
  • ENVIRONMENTAL CERTIFICATIONS
    Performance BBC
  • Download the project

The project consists of two buildings. One is old and was converted from a 1930s garage; the other is new and is called the Moll Building. This building is inspired by the idea of openness. The ground floor consists of a public space, becoming a huge vertical hall with four levels, allowing easy access between the different disciplines involved in the study of architecture. In order to achieve this the building is raised as if balanced on stiletto heels so as to free the spaces from limiting structures and throw them open to the city.

Here, the design takes advantage of the constraints to create three building elements, each of two stories, placed one on top of another, opening up spaces for communal activities looking out over the city. These three units, required by building regulations to be divided up, thus form three constructed units structurally superimposed on one another in an apparent stabilized balance, unified by a single envelope that changes in appearance according to position or the movement of light. The load-bearing façade consists of a framework of varied steel struts constructed according to the stress passing through them while at the same time opening up broad bays over the city: a building that is both visible and instructive. The new school of architecture finds its logic in the links it forms between the city, education, and the material world.

It seeks to express belonging and sharing.