This project takes shape in a particular context which is rurality. This environment answers specific questions for the architectural project. It is a matter of scale, own identity. Building in a village is to have knowledge of things which shape and characterize this one, is to become aware of the existence of a human network especially strong, marked by a very different nearness, The school proves to be a meaningful and flourishing program to strengthen the village identity and highlight this proximity.
In the Xhoffraix’s analysis, one of the problems raised was the absence of centrality. The village only had a vast empty field as heart. The school appears as a structuring element to generate a new centrality, like so giving a meaning to this place, a catalyst space of gathering and social exchanges.
The school hinging on in a way to create diverse sequences that are diversifying the experiences while connecting the program with the other poles of the village. There are two volumes that respond to each part of the program; infant and primary. Between them, a connecting buffer zone, marked by the presence of an existing tree. This space becomes the new forecourt of the village.
The architecture claims to be linked with the landscape. The latter is characterized by a succession of plans; hedges, trees… that appears as filters, juggling with limits and transparency. The building is inspired from that, it draws a clear limit while permitting to capture the glances from the street. The activity taking place is participating to the village life. A low wall, the rhythm of wood structure are so many elements that refer to the filter notion and offer different reading possibilities. They successively draw the transition between the village, the street and the school function. From inside, the spaces are in relation with the environment and more particularly with this central space that is articulating the whole project.