The complex is situated in the southern portion of the prestigious 16eme arrondissement of Paris, bordering the Seine. The entire block surrounding the project is dedicated to different sports and cultural activities.

The way that the building was oriented provides a complete and quite unique view on the river Seine. The opening towards that view came at a price, since it has also exposed the building to the noise and commotion of the dense traffic of the close-by Saint-Exupery wharf as well as the Parisian ring-road.

Located close to Paris, the city of Malakoff possesses a typical suburban fabric. Separated by the south beltway of the capital, this city, historically proletarian slowly evolved to a high-end neighbourhood for privileged white collars, willing to escape from the capital ambient stress. This close location allows them to stay in close contact with the city centre especially since it is well served by many metropolitan trains.

The site gets its character through several remarkable points. The subway station Etienne-Dolet, borders the West side of the building, creating a green frontage stretching through the whole depth of the site, Its built front, that develops on 180 metres, is covered with a low-grade cladding that projects a poor image for the current site. The construction is set in a large parcel of land with various neighbouring landowners that generate divers building alignments. One of the sides of the building borders a large greenway that stretches around the city.

Courbevoie, a residential district without any real urban markers, has two elementary schools located in the same block and sharing the same playground, but not the same school principal. One school was named “Logie” and the other “Anatole France”. As the need for public space grew, the City of Courbevoie decided that it wanted an extension, which it thought would be common to both schools.

BP Architectures, which was invited to bid on the project, did not see things quite the same way; instead of the ground plan sketched out by the municipal services, BP proposed not one but two extensions; two buildings within the same construction, twin structures arranged perpendicular to each other so that the observer has the strange sensation of seeing the same object from two different angles. Designing two buildings instead of one, allowed each individual school to achieve its own optimum functioning.

An appealing, totemic building that you sense is designed for festive celebrations and young people, and that you might expect to find in Rotterdam rather than the uber bourgeois St-Cloud neighborhoods. Even if it is only 300 meters away from OMA’s Villa Dalll’Ava.