Collège d’Orlinde, Bretenoux (FR)
New building
Client: Département du Lot
Location: F-46038 Bretenoux, Département Lot (46)
Architecture: Dietrich Untertrifaller, phBa (partner architects)
Competition: 2018, 1. prize
Construction: 2022 – 2023
Area: 4,536 m² (collège 3,374 m², flats 260 m²)
Programme: All-day school for 450 pupils, classrooms, library, restaurant, recreation rooms and recreation yard
Photos: Aldo Amoretti
Team
Florent Brosse, Mathieu Chataignier, Jörg Fend, Clément Josse (Project management), Christoph Teuschl
Text: Gerlinde Jüttner
Partners
Statics Concrete: Terell, Toulouse
Building services: Soconer, Toulouse
Building physics: GEA, Blagnac
Acoustics: Gamba, Toulouse
Costs: Maitrys, Limoges
Landscape: Saltus, Toulon
Awards
Austrian Green Planet Building Award
Awards
- Austrian Green Planet Building, Award
A school of wood, light and shade
Wood is omnipresent in most of our school buildings to create a bright and warm atmosphere that promotes learning and socialising. This also applies to the college on the outskirts of Bretenoux. Set back from the road, it defines a public square with its wide west front. Harmoniously embedded in its rural surroundings, the horizontal monolith sets an urban accent at the entrance to the village. The Collège d'Orlinde is the first school in the Lot department to generate more energy than it consumes thanks to the 1,200 m² of photovoltaic panels on the roof.
Closed outside, communicative inside
An all-encompassing, cantilevered canopy made of dark, carbonised wood protects against excessive sunlight. The material guarantees longevity without any maintenance. The restrained, closed form contrasts with the spacious, communicative interior, dominated by light-coloured wood. Some of the partition walls between the classes are made of clay bricks to improve acoustics and hygrothermal comfort.
A covered “Agora”
The rooms are clearly arranged around a central circulation area, which separates the individual functional areas: Teaching, school life and services. The public facilities are located around a covered "Agora": Library, restaurant, recreation rooms and a break area.
The flexible room concept provides a creative learning environment with a maximum of functions and applications: Learning, play, social or workshop zones can be freely designed and adapted to the respective needs. The central access and the clear separation of functions in the interior result in logical processes and facilitate orientation.
High environmental standards
Energy self-sufficiency, bioclimatic planning, use of bio-based and local materials, maximum utilisation of natural light: we have done everything we can to reduce the school's carbon footprint and meet its high ecological standards.
A 1,200 m² photovoltaic system with a peak capacity of 250 kilowatts is located on the roof of the building. The Collège d'Orlinde thus generates more energy than it consumes. In winter, the building is heated with a geothermal probe.
Inner courtyards and skylights channel daylight deep into the interior of the building. The classrooms benefit from a bidirectional orientation.
