Learning Center of the Polytechnique school in Paris-Saclay University

This project aims to design a single building where education and research programs will be shared between several institutions specialized in a wide range of scientific disciplines (Ecolepolytechnique, AgroParisTech, ENSTA ParisTech, ENSTA, ENSAE). The ambition is to provide a place of collaboration and exchange around innovative courses and students' projects. The links reinforcement between this disciplines should be stimulated by an original structure that allows collaborative work and future functions. From formal to informal, from rigorous to creative, the building works as a diptych: standard classrooms are extended with large open spaces, places of teaching and exchange providing numerous possibilities of layouts. This spaces are in vertical and horizontal visual connection with all parts of the building giving the interior volume a sensational visibility. The open cells invite to an exclusive relation with the facing park, the facade being fully glazed. A set of twin exterior and interior stairs provides a multitude of situations: small informal amphitheaters, balconies on the park. The stairs climb the facades to the top, offering a free ascent from the park to the accessible rooftop.