French architects Air have completed a raw yellow concrete extension to an apprenticeship college in Saint Maur des Fossés near Paris in France.

Called Apprentice Formation Center, the project comprises a new three-storey building containing a hall, plumbers workshop, classrooms, and meeting rooms, as well as the refurbishment of an existing cafeteria and classrooms.

The yellow concrete continues across a courtyard to the existing building, where it defines the refurbished cafeteria.

Classrooms with hexagonal and diamond-shaped windows are supported above the double-height workshop space.

Photographs are by Denis Ferrattier and David Boureau.

Here's some text from the architects:

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Apprentice Formation Centre - Saint Maur des Fossés, France

The extension of the Apprentice Formation Center is a compact and economic building.

It achieves the composition of the complex of the Chambre des Métiers of the Val-de-Marne Departement, near Paris.

The raw yellow concrete facade gives a clear identity to the building. It comes down on the ground and back up again the previously existing building, creating an open air sunny room, a generous public space linking the old and the new.

On the existing building, the concrete defines an extension of the cafeteria.

In a game of inversion, the new building backs its concrete facade and is based on a complex steel structure.

The long span (20m) of the plumbers workshop is assured with full height beam that frames the second floor.

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The triangulations of these beams give the diamond shape of the upper level windows and the inclination of the zinc.

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PROGRAMM :

Creation of a new three level building: double-height hall, double height plumbers workshop, classrooms, meeting room with good natural light rehabilitation of the existing: creation of a cafeteria, refurbishing of classrooms and offices.

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MATERIALS AND ENERGETIC PERFORMANCES

Raw concrete tainted in mass
Zinc
Steel
planted terrace
recuperation of rain water by a draining.
80 kwh/m².year

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Extension and Restructuration - Projet HQE
Competition winning : March 2007
Delivery : September 2009
Chambre des Métiers du Val de Marne
Architect: AIR (Cyrille Hanappe & Olivier Leclercq)
Location: Saint Maur des Fossés, France (near Paris)
Project team: David Pereyron, Noémie Pons Rotbardt, Arthur Couprie
Engineers: Betom
Acoustic Consultant: AYDA (Yves Dekeyrel)
Budget: $4,6M Euro
Project Area: 2,749sqm
Project year: 2007-2009
New Surface : 2749 m²
Cost Excluding Taxes : 3.937.866 € (1.432€/m²)

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