Vayssière school complex

'Make a village': in Marseille, PAN Architecture treats the Vayssière school complex as exactly that. The parti is an introverted, protected school: a robust, durable perimeter holds the street and makes a sanctuary of the inside, where the playgrounds are handled as gardens and the children's spaces are organised around them. Existing and new buildings merge in a play of single- and double-pitched roofs that vary volume, light and closeness. The new construction stays single-storey and accepts a fragmented scale: the school reads as one legible ensemble yet highly diverse, breaking with the monotony around it to put the public institution back at the centre of the neighbourhood.