Established in 1886 near the historic heart of the furniture business in Paris, Ecole Boulle was intended to train professional furniture makers, and later carvers and engravers.  In 1969 it became a High School of Applied Arts, and includes three entities: the ESAA Boulle, Graduate School of Applied Arts, the Professional School of Crafts furnishings, Vocational School of Jewelery-joaillerie Nicolas Flamel. It has become a major reference in the teaching of art, applied art, design and art in France trades.

Now, 127 years after its founding, the Boulle school was renovated by the City of Paris, which invested 86 million Euros in restructuring and expansion, all designed by architect Pascal Sirvin.  A+A recently interviewed the architect via email:

What’s important about the architecture of this project?

The search for spatial coherence. It was a guideline to build a clear and legible architectural landmark organized around a strong north-south axis. The harmony of the oldest lines has been preserved and each respects the other building and working in a spirit of mutual appreciation. That is what was important also to keep the highly structured lines of the Jules Ferry Building and the return on the facades of the new building.

One of the major changes is the new building dedicated to the wood workshop that brings together the entire industry that was previously scattered around the school building and the bridge in the center of the architectural figure. It is a concrete building with large litters. So we had very fine carved facades and to balance the massive side. A dual skin, shadow box, was used because it has a feature to allow night ventilation and avoid thermal bridges.

The challenges?

The school is spread over an entire block.  It was settled first in the Jules Ferry Building in 1891, and its first extension was in the 1950s, by architect Albert Laprade and structural engineer Jean Prouvé. The challenge was to create two new buildings to incorporate in this block and restructure all.

New buildings were required to provide a clean new space as taught with wood crafts workshop which was dispersed in several areas of the school and have been grouped into a new building. And by integrating these new buildings in a manner consistent with the former buildings.

Then restructure the old building to accommodate more students and allow better working conditions with the upgrading to align the new buildings that are of high environmental quality and provide accessibility for people with reduced mobility. It was also a challenge because the inner layout was changed and had to think through a new distribution of rooms and corridors.

In terms of style, the challenge was to successfully create a new identity while maintaining the style of previous architectures

The intent of the design?

The architect decided to build new buildings, minimalist architecture representing a contemporary style to keep a stylistic continuity in time. This style has the effect of returning the architecture school in the twenty-first century as did Laprade and Jean Prouvé in the twentieth and the first building in the nineteenth. One of the intentions was to the Boulle school with a recognizable style and a certain scale.  This style also was chosen because it allowed enough horizontal present to create a driver that gives unity to the whole thread..

Who will use the space, and for what purpose?

The space is used for workshops for students and classrooms as well as all the necessary life of the school as the dining room and showroom areas of student projects. The administrative part is further down the street to another building exclusively for management services. It was important that the renovation help create space for workshops and remains focused around the trades taught.

The background of  the architects?

Pascal Sirvin, born in 1954, is a graduate of Fine Arts in 1971 and graduated in architecture at the University of Paris VI in 1981. He was appointed architect and advisor to the Ministry of Equipment and since 2000 he has held the same post at the Ministry of Culture.

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For more information, go to http://www.ecole-boulle.org/