Couzinet middle school

East of Chantonnay, in the Vendée, Magnum modernises the Collège Couzinet, a school no longer matching current standards for comfort and energy. Instead of rebuilding, the project acts building by building: a targeted demolition, an extension, external insulation, a pellet boiler and rooftop photovoltaics. Timber holds the whole together, in structure and cladding, with two species, one light, one dark, marking volumes and openings through a soft contrast; straw, a local resource, insulates the new-build parts. The clearest move is the smallest: the original covered yard's big beam, reused as an XXL bench facing the extension, redraws the schoolyard with almost nothing.