The Trivo-Garen campus is located in the modern part of the town of Clamart, the so-called Petit-Clamaret. Even 50 years ago, there were continuous pea fields. And today a trapezoidal plot of 5 hectares allotted for building is sandwiched between a quarter of small private houses from the south and an area of multi-storey social housing from the north. The architects thought of their project as a kind of transitional zone, uniting two very different quarters. To maintain communication between them, they cut through the site (its width is about 150 m) with three pedestrian streets at once.
The area of all buildings is slightly less than 14,000 m2, and they cost the city authorities 30.7 million euros. The elongated sports complex includes a versatile gymnasium, tennis courts, a dojo (room for martial arts classes) and a small outdoor stadium designed as a courtyard. All of these areas are covered by either a lowering or a rising folded aluminum roof, vaguely reminiscent of our shell garages. At the ends of the building, this aluminum "blanket" falls to the ground, protecting residential buildings from unnecessary noise. Under it are hidden structures made of glued timber with a transverse arrangement of layers. It was with their help that the architects managed to create free, large-span spaces and at the same time maintain the smooth curves of the roof.
The second, even more complex in its configuration, the building unites two kindergartens and two primary schools. In addition to the actual classrooms, public areas are provided: recreation areas, a dining room, a cultural center and a multifunctional hall with a separate entrance. As expected, the main classrooms are located on the ground floor. The roof surface of this lower tier is planted with meadow grasses. You cannot walk on it, just admire from the windows of the volumes located above and effectively installed on this lawn. A green roof plays an important role as an insulating layer, and also helps to maintain adequate moisture and rainwater retention, thus reducing the amount of waste discharged to the sewers.
