{"id":297691,"date":"2026-02-23T06:07:25","date_gmt":"2026-02-23T06:07:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/297691\/"},"modified":"2026-02-23T06:07:25","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T06:07:25","slug":"le-penhuel-associes-prioritises-biomaterials-at-french-school","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/297691\/","title":{"rendered":"Le Penhuel & Associ\u00e9s prioritises biomaterials at French school"},"content":{"rendered":"

A lantern-like sports court sits on the roof of this load-bearing stone<\/a> and timber school<\/a> in France<\/a>, designed by local studio Le Penhuel & Associ\u00e9s.<\/p>\n

Located in the Paris suburb of Tremblay-en-France, the 2,400-square-metre Groupe Scolaire Simone Veil contains eight classrooms, a canteen and administrative areas, as well as a sports court that is shared with local community groups.<\/p>\n

Paris-based Le Penhuel & Associ\u00e9s<\/a> used a palette of biomaterials for the school, including timber, local limestone and earth bricks, reflecting its belief that educational buildings have a responsibility to demonstrate sustainable building methods.<\/p>\n

\"GroupeLe Penhuel & Associ\u00e9s has completed Groupe Scolaire Simone Veil<\/p>\n

“We believe that a school building should clearly express its environmental commitment,” associate architect Warren Lepolard told Dezeen.<\/p>\n

“Material choices, therefore, focused on geo-sourced and bio-based materials,” Lepolard continued.<\/p>\n

“The facades are built with load-bearing stone from Bonneuil-en-Valois. Its thickness provides significant thermal inertia, while its local origin ensures durability, ease of maintenance and long-term stability of the building\u2019s appearance.”<\/p>\n

\"StoneThe studio prioritised “warm and welcoming” biomaterials<\/p>\n

Lepolard added that the use of biomaterials also brings warmth and a natural aesthetic to the building.<\/p>\n

“Inside, the extensive use of timber structure creates a warm and welcoming atmosphere,” he explained. “The addition of raw earth bricks between classrooms further enhances the visibility of natural and bio-based materials used throughout the building.”<\/p>\n

\"GroupeGroupe Scolaire Simone Veil has a rooftop terrace<\/p>\n

Respecting the smaller scale of the neighbouring residential properties, Groupe Scolaire Simone Veil is organised predominantly across a single storey. A smaller first floor contains both the sports court and an apartment for the school’s guardian.<\/p>\n

Two axes form a cross shape at the centre of the school’s plan, with an elongated entrance hall from north to south and a “classroom street” connecting the teaching spaces from east to west.<\/p>\n

\"SportsThe rooftop terrace includes a sports court<\/p>\n

This internal street is lined with colourful, arch-shaped alcoves and storage areas that overlook a row of small external patios through full-height, timber-framed windows.<\/p>\n

Where these two routes intersect, an internal playground that doubles as a space for temporary exhibitions and events was created, demarcated by colourful blue and orange floor graphics.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Groupe<\/p>\n

NTSA Architectes draws on “age-old know-how” for rammed-earth school extension\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

“One of the project\u2019s key gestures lies in the design of numerous ‘furniture-spaces’ integrated into circulation areas,” Lepolard explained.<\/p>\n

“These elements allow children to appropriate transitional spaces as playful places for learning and relaxation, transforming movement through the building into a pedagogical experience,” he added.<\/p>\n

\"Wood-linedThe interiors look out over\u00a0a row of small external patios<\/p>\n

Positioned above the canteen and administrative areas, a large stair leads up to a timber-decked terrace and Groupe Scolaire Simone Veil’s rooftop sports court.<\/p>\n

The court is framed by a large timber column and wrapped by metal mesh and polycarbonate screens. Alongside it is a steel spiral staircase leads up to an even higher roof terrace, offering expansive views out across the city.<\/p>\n

Elsewhere in France, NTSA Architectes recently used rammed-earth walls and “age-old know-how”<\/a> for its extension of a school in Villefranche-sur-Sa\u00f4ne and Coldefy completed a timber-framed school in Cambrai with a cantilevered first floor<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The photography is by Vladimir de Mollerat du Jeu<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A lantern-like sports court sits on the roof of this load-bearing stone and timber school in France, designed…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":297692,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[442,498,499,500,2296,501,84,156,1221,111,139,69,6649,1621,1774,28723,4883,21217],"class_list":{"0":"post-297691","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-arts-and-design","10":"tag-artsanddesign","11":"tag-artsdesign","12":"tag-biomaterials","13":"tag-design","14":"tag-education","15":"tag-entertainment","16":"tag-france","17":"tag-new-zealand","18":"tag-newzealand","19":"tag-nz","20":"tag-schools","21":"tag-sectionall","22":"tag-sectionarchitecture","23":"tag-stone","24":"tag-wood","25":"tag-wooden-architecture"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297691","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=297691"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297691\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/297692"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=297691"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=297691"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=297691"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}