A playful design for Max Barel elementary school

Integration in a wooded area 

The new school needed to blend in with its surroundings of neighbouring municipal buildings and several hectares of green parks and spaces. The area is heavily planted with trees, lawns and a network of footpaths and lighting.  For this integration, the architect considered various designs: "First of all, to create a link with the existing heterogeneous buildings - an elliptical shaped crèche and a municipal building in the shape of a parallelogram - and to find a way of not obstructing the views of the park, which led us to design the school with one storey. This choice freed up space on the ground: "The 900 m2 building has a footprint of 450 m2, and the rest of the plot has been developed for the children. This has also allowed us to continue planting trees as we do throughout the borough." 

A wide range of colours 

Once the shapes were defined the next step was to find facade cladding with a suitable design: "We wanted to support the architectural choices with colours that refer to the childhood imagination. And that's where Rockpanel facade boards come in: "When I studied the documentation I realised that the range of available colours, especially the radiant ones, was very interesting. The result is that the building is now clad in a warm, shimmering colour scheme that highlights the various elements of the centre. These colours contrast with the other facade materials: the rough concrete tower and the plastered base.  

Durability and fire resistance  

But the choice of Rockpanel facade boards is not only related to the colour scheme and design freedom: "I had already used Rockpanel for another 16-metre-high building, which had a high fire risk. The fact that Rockpanel has a technical approval for this was a plus. The panels are made from basalt and are not only durable but also non-combustible. And, on masonry walls, when combined with ROCKWOOL insulation and a metal frame, they benefit from a laboratory assessment, allowing them to be used in a variety of applications*: “This allows us to meet the regulations in an elegant way.”  

Contribution to comfort  

The architect opted for a concrete ventilated facade structure with an external thermal insulation system. "With the concrete inside and the external insulation, we were able to work on the thermal insulation for summer and winter comfort. The Rockpanel boards are an excellent choice, even though they do not have insulating properties. By promoting natural ventilation, any risk of condensation and water stagnation between the board and the insulation is eliminated, even when the joints are between open claddings. Similarly, by protecting the walls from direct solar radiation, the panel reduces overheating of the walls in summer. And this is always thanks to the constant air flow between the cladding and the insulation.  

* Option allowed by IT249, validated by an approved laboratory through Lepir II tests. 

*Disclaimer: Due to changes in our assortment, it is possible that the designs shown in this case study are no longer available. Feel free to contact us in case of doubt.