Perched on the heights of Mareil-Marly, Les Violettes School Complex redefines the connection between education and the environment. Designed by HEMAA Architectes (Charles Hesters and Pierre Martin-Saint-Etienne) and completed in November 2024, the project was commissioned by the city to expand and modernize existing facilities. The new development includes 16 classrooms, featuring a new kindergarten, a six-classroom extension for the elementary school, and a recreation center, spanning 2,000 square meters with a €7.10 million budget.
The school integrates into its setting, surrounded by mature trees and offering sweeping views of the Paris metropolitan area, with the towers of La Défense visible in the distance. The site’s pre-existing structures, reflecting different architectural styles, are settled within lush greenery, creating an ideal atmosphere for students. Rather than introducing a single dominant structure, HEMAA Architectes embraced the site’s natural character. The design creates a village-like campus where education connects with the surrounding environment.
Designing for Transparency and Connection
The architectural approach focuses on openness, light, and interaction with the landscape. The wood-and-glass structure mirrors the surrounding foliage, while the arrangement of buildings prioritizes transparency. The design places two new buildings at the western corner of the site, maximizing playground space and providing shelter from prevailing winds.
These additions connect to the existing elementary school through two double-height halls. This design allows natural light to flow through, creating visual continuity. The first hall, positioned at the junction with the existing building, serves as the elementary school entrance. The second hall combines the kindergarten entrance with a covered play area, forming an interior corridor filled with daylight.
The kindergarten classrooms are all on the ground floor, with direct access to the courtyard, an essential request from the teaching staff. The redesign of outdoor spaces enlarges open-ground areas around existing trees, enhancing their presence. The landscape strategy includes a rainwater management system, redirecting runoff into recessed areas to encourage natural infiltration and support the surrounding vegetation.
Innovative Construction and Sustainable Materials
The project prioritizes sustainable construction methods, using a lightweight, prefabricated French wooden structure to minimize disruption. Prefabrication not only reduced noise but also shortened construction time, allowing the school to continue operations during the build.
Material choices emphasize a balance between durability and aesthetic sensitivity. The ground floor serves as a key visual anchor for students. Factory-treated vertical wooden slats made from French Douglas fir cover the ground floor, pre-aged with a gray finish for long-term stability. In contrast, mirrored aluminum panels with interspersed glass windows wrap the upper level. These reflective surfaces capture the shifting hues of trees, sky, and cityscape. The curved, lightweight roofs appear to float above the courtyards, further softening the building’s presence within its environment.
Inside, the design embraces raw materials. Exposed wooden beams highlight the structure, emphasizing its natural composition. Prefabricated concrete walls stabilize the structure and maintain a raw, textured finish. Compacted wood fiber panels between the beams control acoustics, while wood wool insulation enhances the use of natural materials throughout the project.
Maximizing Space and Natural Light
With a focus on preserving playground space, the layout follows a compact design featuring central corridors distributing classrooms on both sides. To prevent these internal areas from feeling enclosed, windows have been integrated into classroom partitions, allowing light to filter through. At the same time, glazed openings at the corridor ends offer continuous views of the outdoors. This design strengthens the connection between interior and exterior spaces.
Client: Municipality of Mareil-Marly
Location: Mareil-Marly (78), France
Program: Extension of a School Complex + 13 classrooms and a recreation center
Environmental Features: Bio-based building with a wooden structure, natural wool insulation, timber and mirrored aluminum cladding on the facades, ceilings made of wood fiber
Certification: E=C Label – Level E3C1
Cost: €7.3 million
Areas
Gross Floor Area (SDP): 1,997 m²
Usable Floor Area (SU): 1,852 m²
Net Floor Area (SHON): 2,074 m²
Outdoor Spaces: 2,824 m²
Timeline: 2020 – 2024
Team: Hemaa Architectes (lead architects) in collaboration with Hesters Oyon Architectes (competition phase), OTE – Engineering Office, OTELIO – Environmental Engineering Office
Photography: Nicolas Da Silva and Sergio Grazia
Remarks: Heritage site located in the heart of Mareil-Marly, adjacent to the town hall.
Companies
Foundations – Structural Work – Site Installation: BOUQUET SAS
Wood Structure: LCA LES CHARPENTIER DE L’ATLANTIQUE
Waterproofing – Roofing: SARMATES
Facade Treatment: DONABAT
Exterior Joinery | Shutters: J2M Entreprise
Partitions – Linings | Suspended Ceilings: KA CONSTRUCTIONS
Interior Joinery – Fittings: ATELIER DALBERGIA
Metalwork: REITHLER SAS
Hard and Soft Flooring: FLIPO SAS
Painting – Signage: LES PEINTURES PARISIENNES
Plumbing – Sanitary: CLIMAIRTEC
Electrical Systems (High and Low Voltage) | HVAC – Smoke Extraction: DERICHEBOURG
ENERGIE
Elevator: TK ELEVATOR
Roads and Utilities: ALKEN SAS
Fencing – Landscaping – Planting: ESPACE DECO
