-
Architects: Atelier osmose, voieoff architectes
- Area: 4200 m²
- Year: 2019
-
Photographs:Frédérique Félix-Faure
Situation and Volumes Organization. Located near the boulevard Hamid el Ghazali which connects the city center of Sousse to the peripheral belt, the GSU is located in a new district in full development. Frames of open views to the sky take advantage of a still low urban landscape. While reinforcing the safety of the various spaces and particularly that outside, namely courtyards and covered areas, the design of volumes and their interweaving with the plant is part of an environmental approach optimizing ventilation and natural lighting thanks to solutions simple, sober, efficient, and durable.
The organization of the buildings, based on a deliberately low volume (garden level / upper ground floor / first floor) despite the relative cramped nature of the terrain, is intended to be very readable from the outside as well as from the inside, giving everyone a clear understanding of the program while respecting their objectives of fluidity and capacity for development.
These spaces overlap and fit into a relatively simple volume: closed on the side of the public road (a few vertical slit openings) and wide open to the northeast towards the heart of the Middle School. at each level, the plan is framed by the presence of patios providing natural light and ensuring the natural ventilation of the spaces: these patios capture the air on the ground floor and thus provide wooded areas at the entrances.
Environmental Sensibility. Double brick walls incorporating insulation, passive sun protection (cap, screen) adapt buildings with temperature differences between seasons and are essential elements of the traditional architecture system Tunisian. The framework of the teaching buildings, 3 narrow spiky pavilions alternating atrium and gardens creates an in-between: calm and light natural subdued atrium, the freshness of wooded gardens open to ends whose shape promotes air circulation.
This device promotes the natural ventilation system in place for all teaching places excluding any air conditioning: air intake in cool areas (gardens and courtyards, large ducts integrated into the supporting structure, extraction by turrets operated by wind).
Architectural Expression. The ratio of filled and empty spaces, the legibility of the concrete structure left raw, in which are inserted the brick walls (double walls incorporating the insulation) covered with a white plaster playing with the claustra designed and made specifically for the project forming passive solar protection of all traffic areas and large openings (CDI, dining room) provide the desired unity for the entire establishment. The architectural expression favors the control of light and ambient air, the right balance, with the seasons, between passive solar protection and winter solar exposition.
