Buc, France

The Lycée Franco-Allemand built by Benhisch Architekten in collaboration with Atelier 2A+, is a revitalized school building dating from the 1980s, that includes a Franco-German bilingual secondary school, a primary school, a lower secondary school, and gymnasium, and to link them together with outdoor enhancements to strengthen the identity of the campus.

This approach has resulted in the creation of an attractive place of learning for approximately 1,000 students, standing in a park amidst magnificent trees, with far more to offer than a mere educational establishment in the traditional understanding of the term.

This project has recently been awarded a 2023 International Architecture Award by The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design and The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies.

The original school campus could no longer meet the requirements of today, leading local authorities to launch an international competition for the restructuring and enlargement of the school campus in 2015.

Some parts of the existing secondary school have been kept and two new buildings built: the primary school, designed as a pavilion in the park in the northern area, and the gymnasium, which completes the overall composition towards the southern area.

Thus, thanks to these needed improvements, a new school group with a clear presence and numerous references to the adjacent landscape has been achieved.

The look of the campus depends largely on the parasol structures, which from the park appear confidently in view, symbolically extending their protective roof over the school group.

On the entrance side and on the street side, the lycée presents an orthogonal and rectilinear structure.

The classrooms, the administration, as well as the kitchen areas, are located here.

The new parts of the building are also adjacent to the existing building in the direction of the park and the school courtyard.

Here, the school building is designed in a more free and open way, with more playful architecture.

Terraces differentiate its appearance and provide attractive exterior spaces for classes held outdoors.

Also located in this part of the building oriented towards the park are the canteen, the auditorium, the multimedia library, and specialized classrooms.

The curved wings of the building frame the school courtyard, from the middle of which the welcoming and protective parasol structures unfold.

They create covered zones and mark the transition from the interior to the exterior.

Thus, the new center of the school stands at the edge of the park, with an interior and an exterior space creating the linking of the whole.

This place with a stimulating ambiance is designed to host the many different activities and festivities organized by the school.

Learning environment flooded with daylight The aim of taking advantage of natural light was a priority during the design phase of the campus.

The result is premising benefitting from natural light, even in deeper internal areas.

In the existing buildings, many skylights now ensure natural lighting in the classrooms.

The parasols also play a key role here.

The transparent covering of the umbrella structures allows light to penetrate.

The timber lamellas have two functions: firstly providing shading, and secondly acting as a light deflector.

This ensures that the building benefits from winter sun whilst being protected from overheating due to direct summer sun penetration.

The integrated wooden slats provide partial shade and orient daylight and summer sunshine, falling almost vertically, is blocked.

The concept of ventilation includes measures for natural climate control with air being pre-cooled or preheated with ground-coupled heat exchangers.

Project: Lycée Franco-Allemand
Architects: Behnisch Architekten
Lead Architects: Stefan Rappold and Stefan Behnisch
Project Leaders: Angie Müller and François Servera
Associate Architects: Atelier 2a+
Associate Architect Team: Florence Grall
General Contractor: Eiffage Construction Yvelines
Client: Conseil départemental des Yvelines, Hôtel du Département
Photographers: David Matthiessen