

jean-françois schmit’s eco-friendly nursery/primary school in paris

all images courtesy of jean-françois schmit architects

french architecture studio jean-françois schmit’s latest project was the renovation and adaptation of a paris nursery and primary school. their scheme not only saw the rebuilding of areas in need of repairs, but transformed the facility in its entirety into a environmentally friendly, sustainable structure. the façade, where not covered in glass, is entirely clad in wood. a tilted roof section — which points towards the school’s garden — brings copious amounts of natural light into the structure. on the roof, two heavily slanted wooden forms are covered in photovoltaic panels to help reduce energy use, and thus, costs.



front courtyard

as almost the entire project was being completed on an occupied site, it was crucial that planning and implementation were closely monitored. instead of placing the entire student body in a series of temporary buildings, it was decided that the kids would be shuffled back and forth between the two spaces. from the street, the school’s wooden façade breaks away from its traditional, stone-heavy neighbors.



the school’s eco-friendliness is outlined by the presence of bike racks and green wall



greenhouse and the passage to zen garden area



large tilted windows fill the greenhouse area with natural light



zen garden and pond



concrete interior



cafeteria



class room



façade



section



ground floor plan

project info:

architects: jean-françois schmit

project: eco-nursery/primary school

dates: phase 1, sept. 2013, phase 2, sept. 2014

client: city of paris, france

partners: SNC Lavalin (BET TCE), Tribu (BE environnemental), SLG paysage

area: 5,500m2

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: nick brink | designboom