Echandens school complex

The new Echandens school complex blends into the site, with four articulated volumes surrounded by major trees, creating a veritable inhabited park. The siting and alignment of the buildings, in relation to the existing fabric, establish a dialogue with the context that seeks to anchor the new school complex naturally in the existing buildings. The low, tree-like massing and architectural character of the buildings, in keeping with rural housing codes, allow them to blend harmoniously into the terrain between the village and the fields.

The classrooms, gymnasium, indoor swimming pool and pre-school and after-school group radiate out from the courtyard, creating a series of spaces between the buildings, each with its own ambience. The ensemble thus forms clearly defined outdoor spaces with their own identity, and assumes qualities capable of weaving links between the school and the town. In this way, five spatial entities - a garden forest, a courtyard, a sports field, an orchard and a wet garden - become places inhabited as much by schoolchildren as by walkers and users of the sports facilities.