Le Marais du Billet, Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne School, Switzerland Building, Architecture

School in Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne : Swiss Education Building

Education Building Switzerland – design by mcm architectes

11 May 2012

School ‘Le Marais du Billet’ in Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne

Location: Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, Switzerland

School ‘Le Marais du Billet’ in Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne

Design: Graeme Mann & Patricia Capua Mann, architectes dipl. EPFL FAS SIA

Built in the heart of the village, slightly off the main street, the old school building has been preserved and reallocated as a municipal administration building. At the same time, a new school complex was built on the same lot.

The site is crossed by a “green alley” which links the main street of the village to a belvedere which looks out onto the Jura mountains. The new school building is turned towards the countryside and is sited along this lane.

Due to its position adjacent to the school and its regular geometry, the new schoolyard, for example, develops the notion of epicentre which gives it the look of a village square. Protected from automobile traffic, this new “village square” allows to organise major events and to underscore its function.

Covered with metal slats, the façades of the two volumes share a common expression whose dynamics derive from the varying size of their windows. Equipped with much larger windows, the gym halls are reminiscent of “large classrooms”. To confirm the plasticity of the façades, the principal openings are underscored by large frames.

The expression of the different layers that make up the façade is reinforced by the two-colour treatment of the metal elements and by the sliding windows positioned behind the façade’s covering. The multi-orientated positioning of the classrooms enables teachers and students alike to enjoy the view in all four directions.

To guarantee this multi-orientated effect in the typological organisation, the static structure of the school building is ensured by concrete shear walls in the form of flags superimposed at right angles. With regard to the semi-underground gym halls, this system is reinforced by a grid of concrete columns spread over the periphery of the volume, thus allowing visitors to see to the other side of the building.

School ‘Le Marais du Billet’ in Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne – Building Information

Title: School ‘Le Marais du Billet’ in Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne Architects: Graeme Mann & Patricia Capua Mann, architectes dipl. EPFL FAS SIA

Addresse: Route de Lausanne 2
Zip code: 1033
Town: Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, VD
Country : Switzerland

Competition: 2004
Building period: 2005-08
Status: Completed

Fonction: Educational
Floor levels: Underground, ground + 2
Gross floor area SIA: 4,700 m2
Volume SIA: 27,940 m3
Global cost CFC 1-9: 17,390,000 Frs
M3 cost SIA CFC 2: 526 Frs

Client: Commune of Cheseaux
Architects: Graeme Mann & Patricia Capua Mann, architectes dipl. EPFL FAS SIA
Assistants: Dominik Riser, Sara Gerber, Jean-Michäel Taillebois
Site supervisor: Tekhne SA
Civil engineer: AIC Ingénieurs conseils SA
Electrical engineer: Perrottet SA
Façade engineer: Arteco SA
Sanitary engineer: Schumacher SA
Lighting engineer: Aesbischer & Bovigny
Landscape architect: Atelier du Paysage Jean-Yves le Baron

Photographs: Thomas Jantscher

School ‘Le Marais du Billet’ in Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne images / information from Graeme Mann & Patricia Capua Mann, architectes dipl. EPFL FAS SIA

Location: Route de Lausanne 2, 1033, Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, VD, Switzerland