The new lodge built is just slip into the openings in the existing structure : a light structure made of wood, in a yellow color. The lodge caretaker is designed as an autonomous structure that includes its own floor, walls and ceiling. This structure is thought up as an element of urban furniture.

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• Architects: Metek Architect
• Project: A school in Paris
• Location: Paris, France
• Photography: mopA
• Client: Ville de Paris
• Surface area: 12 m²
• Width of existing loggia: 1 m 95
• Width of new loggia: 1 m 55
• Materials: Wood, Corian

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In this project, we integrate all the program’s data concerning bulletin boards but also a part of the furniture which was not included as the desk, the shelves and the locker room which are an integral part of the project.

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Purposes :

• To suppress the ambiguity between the entrance of the school and of the housing.
• To point out the school by creating a colorful, playful façade that incorporates in its composition the elements of identification (address) and information (bulletin board)
• Create a dialogue between the existing architecture and the new lodge

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The structure of the lodge consists of a wooden posts/beams structure, covered by a panel wood on each side and then resin to prevent joints : the complex between 15 and 20 cm thick includes a thermal / sound insulation.

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Innovation through tailor-made and playful design

The yellow module of the new lodge fits into the openings of the building, just like the toy building blocks used by children. Prefabricated with a light wood frame, the lodge is conceived as a piece of urban furniture. Brightly colored Corian panels (a mixture of two thirds natural minerals and one third acrylic resin) clothe this structure with a smooth cladding that enhances existing tones.

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The choice of resin yields rounded thermoformed angles that emphasize the joint, creating a slight floating back panel with the existing structure. These soft lines, echoing the curves of a large «eight», are there to inspire children to go to school. The ingenuity of the interior design makes the place accessible to mobility-impaired persons.

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«Illusions» of grandeur

The starting dimensional challenge caused us to take particular care in the details and be enerous with functionalities. All the elements necessary for comfort here are put into the walls to free up the central space (toilet, changing room, kitchenette, notice board, key panel, office) and niches simulate the contrasting play of yellow and white of the Corian outside.

Integrating all the furniture into the architecture makes us forget the cramped nature of the place and shows that sometimes small need not be envious of big.

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Working simultaneously on the volume (high ceiling), the colors and the quality of light (natural and artificial) creates an airy and fun place. And so the spatial dimensions are expanded as much by their layout as by our own perception.

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Image Courtesy © mopA

Image Courtesy © mopA

Image Courtesy © mopA

Image Courtesy © mopA

Plan : Image Courtesy Metek Architect