Educational landscape in the village of Vendegies-sur-Ecaillon

An inconspicuous little village in the north of France, not really a place of great architecture. But Vendegies-sur-Ecaillon in France has a new kindergarten, designed by Studio Rijsel, which blends into the structure of the village center and yet stands out.

The new École maternelle in the small community of Vendegies-sur-Ecaillon is located right in the heart of the small village. Nestled between the church and the converted vicarage, docked to the school and in the middle of village structures, the new building is a surprising sight. Together with the elementary school, the new kindergarten now forms a school complex that blends sensitively into the heterogeneous building structure and varied topography of the village.

The new kindergarten comprises a massive, central structure, from which a T-shaped bar projects towards the elementary school. This connects the Ecole Maternelle, the school for the little ones, with the neighboring elementary school. Together, the two educational facilities therefore complement a heterogeneous structure of buildings and open spaces, which is typical of a small-scale, evolved village structure such as Vendegies-sur-Ecaillon. Only the mighty church tower is visible from afar and towers above everything else. Otherwise, in the middle of the village center, it is hard to tell which open space belongs to whom and which building houses which function. For the village, it doesn’t matter, because the new kindergarten strengthens the center of the village and thus paves the way for the future of the small town on the northern edge of France.

The heart of the kindergarten is a two-storey, almost rectangular structure, which consequently houses the classrooms and activity rooms. This central building is covered by a traditional pitched roof, which creates a large spatial volume. The roof protrudes far into the open space in the south-east and protects and shades the large windows facing the courtyard. At the end of the pitched roof, the clear height is only 2.10 meters. This seems low, but corresponds to the height of the adjacent structures and the scale of the children.

The courtyard of the kindergarten extends as an extension of the generous roof overhang. A clinker brick wall protrudes into the site as an extension of the gable walls and encloses this outdoor area. A small, brick storage room is set into the surrounding wall. It opens up like a small house to the kindergarten courtyard. At the same time, it leans against the rectory. In this way, it creates a structural counterpoint to the volume of the kindergarten building and at the same time ensures that the existing and new buildings dovetail.

The slender block, which branches off from the main kindergarten building to the west, houses a weather-protected break room. It creates a connection to the neighboring school building and at the same time faces the surrounding green open spaces. It is at right angles to the kindergarten building with its classrooms and activity rooms. The rooms are also accessed via a large, glazed corridor with a view of the schoolyard. The sanitary facilities are also accessible from here. This access area picks up on the rhythm of the school; this is where life pulsates. A glass curtain wall provides a view of this lively zone from the outside and at the same time allows light to penetrate the interior of the building.

Both structures, the voluminous kindergarten building and the filigree break hall, are made of metal frames. This material best suited the constraints of the site and the cost-effectiveness of the project. In its appearance, however, it also refers to the agricultural sheds that are part of the image of the village and line the surrounding landscape. The façade of the kindergarten and the large overhang of the roof therefore also resemble simple agricultural buildings. Simple wooden paneling and metal surfaces and supporting elements dominate here. The third material of the building, the clinker brick of the façades and the surrounding wall, also refers to the surroundings. Many of the old buildings in the village center, including the church, are made of brick.

The architecture firm Studio Rijsel describes itself as a union of opposites. They see themselves as a place of fabrication, creation and life. The images and collages on the website also bear witness to this. Accordingly, the architects show a variety of media that come together and symbolize the work of the studio. The name of the studio “Rijsel” recalls the roots of the team, the city of Lille, Flanders and its roots in the north of France. At the same time, it stands for a geographical openness to the department, the region, to Paris and to the major Belgian cities of Antwerp, Ghent and Brussels. The founders of Studio Rijsel, Edouard Cailliau and Thomas Lecourt, have been working together in their own office since 2007, after almost ten years together in a recognized office in Lille.

With Porta 1070, their colleagues from OSK-AR Architecten have created an extraordinary school in a former church. Here we show you the project in Anderlecht.