Extension of Boarding School of Excellence in Montpellier

Climatic conditions
The site is in Montpellier, South of France, Mediterranean conditions, 2,8°C to 30°C, very sunny city with 7h22/day.
Urban conditions
The site belongs to an ancient monastery (XVII° century) transformed into a military casern during the XIX century until 2010. The existing buildings are protected as national heritage.
Design concept
To bring into the existing geometry of the site, based on an historical ortogonal structure and the trace of an ancient and diagonal plot, a boarding school of excellence offering to the children of difficult suburban cities the possibility of a protected scholarship. To build very quickly (the competition was won in November 2010, the children were sleeping in their bedrooms on the 3rd of September 2011, i.e. 9 months from the studies to the habitation), with traditional and industrial means, such as industrial wooden façades. Use of existing cultural architectural elements existing on the site : louvers et half round tiles as moucharabieh over the staircase.
Sustainable approach

Natural light in all the rooms including bathrooms and corridors. Natural ventilation in all the bedrooms for the children’s comfort in the hot seasons with ventilation static chimney for each bedroom. Thermal mass with concrete floors. Sun protections with louvers and roof protections. Double flow ventilation for the cold periods. Energy performance : Passivhaus. Natural materials without treatment. Low consumption lamps. Low consumption light bulbs, water-saving toilet, recovery of rain water for the garden, etc.
Materials
Concrete for the structure. Wood for the façades, the windows and the louvers. Wooden structure and fire earth tiles for the moucharabieh. Steel for the sun protection over the roof. Linoleum for the soils. Natural pigment paints. Thermoplastic polyolefin (TPO) simply-ply roofing membranes. Endemic plants. Green construction site. Solar panels for hot water. High performance gas boiler.