Strasbourg School of Architecture
Located in the heart of the city, La Fabrique (The Factory) is a new 4,500m2 building that will be complemented by the refurbishment of the adjoining building, Le Garage, to be completed in December 2014.
The teaching spaces of La Fabrique are projected into the streetscape, encouraging students to engage with the buildings context and allowing the city to permeate the ribbed veil of the façade.
The transparent plinth gives the feeling that a gravitational force has pulled the building upwards leaving it to rest on stiletto heels, allowing the city in underneath.
The buildings massing consists of two?storey blocks stacked on top of each other. The lower block cantilevers over the transparent, ground floor plinth, while the uppermost block steps back,
providing the maximum volume within the constraints set by the planning regulations. The blocks are unified by the common envelope, a semi?transparent aluminium skin that cloaks the glazed boxes.