Double School Extensions by BP Architectures

Posted inID Mag

February 18, 2009. Pedestrians may do a double take while walking through the streets of Courbevoie, France. BP Architectures have built two identical additions onto two completely different elementary schools that happen to share the same block. Each new building houses classrooms and a library and is built around a courtyard playground complete with a vegetable garden. Made of concrete, their top halves are encased in stripey, anodized-aluminum fins in various shades of gold that catch the light and make the buildings seem to shimmer; the fins also serve as shade canopies. Inside, bright colors and playful furnishings complete the space—neon green and pink striped walls, variously sized spherical light fixtures serving as strange ceiling landscapes, and color-coded coat racks.