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Architects: Plò architectes
- Area: 700 m²
- Year: 2024
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Photographs:Florence Vesval
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Lead Architects: Frédéric Ilardi, Eric Baffie, Romain Verdet
Text description provided by the architects. Plò architectes is a firm focusing its work on interventions in the historic centers of the Provence region in France, whether through the rehabilitation of deteriorated buildings, the creation of public spaces, or urban-scale studies. The studio’s projects aim to demonstrate the relevance of these typologies in addressing today’s and tomorrow’s ecological and climate challenges.
This project aims to revitalize the Vieux Bourg school in Cagnes-sur-Mer by merging the existing buildings with the neighboring bourgeois villa, the Maison Blacas. We seek to show that adapting old buildings to modern uses can create desirable and eco-friendly environments. We have aligned the floor levels and optimized vertical circulation to ensure accessibility. The central courtyard serves the common spaces (dining hall, library, multipurpose room) and extends into a garden, thus preserving the unity of the school complex. We created warm, inviting spaces by maximizing the site’s qualities. For example, a vaulted cellar becomes the school’s library, and the classrooms are generously opened with large windows framing views of the Mediterranean.
Our project offers an innovative and respectful vision of urban rehabilitation, breathing new life into neglected heritage while meeting the contemporary needs of its users. The use of materials recovered on-site is at the heart of our approach. We reused brick cladding tiles, cement tiles as wall ceramics, and historical elements such as millstones turned into tables and window sills repurposed as stair steps. This approach promotes a unique environment that respects the past.
In terms of thermal performance, we focused primarily on summer comfort, which is crucial in the Côte d’Azur with its mild winters. This is why we favored hemp-lime plaster instead of traditional insulation for the exterior walls. We sought to adorn the spaces with local, bio-sourced materials or those outside the standard industrial catalogs. The floors are terracotta, and the ceilings are made of wood fiber.
