Alberto Campo Baeza

This project involves the construction of buildings to complete the current French Lycée in Madrid, located in the Parque del Conde Orgaz.

We would like our new building to be a most beautiful educational construction. We know that adding new parts to existing buildings is not an easy task. But that is what we aim to do.

Our core idea is to establish a new order that doesn’t exist right now. With our new buildings we are trying to achieve a unified whole, and we believe that we have succeeded in this.

Throughout the process, in terms of form, materials and construction systems, we have sought to achieve the most cost-efficient use of resources.

We created two areas which, together with the central plaza, are capable of binding the whole complex together. What we have done is simply to apply well-known and effective architectural mechanisms, in the form of courtyards..

The first courtyard, which we would like to regard as a cour d’honneur, is achieved by placing a low wall next to the new cylindrical library, thus enclosing the current courtyard at the main entrance and redesigning it. And in it we will plant orange trees in an orderly fashion, as if it were a real orangerie. The wall will incorporate a mural made by the pupils themselves.

The second courtyard is formed by placing the laboratory building to one side, so that it faces the sports grounds and is enclosed by a porch that knits the structure together, thus providing a frame for the sporting landscape.

The structure of the new buildings is in harmony with the existing ones, and follows a similar arrangement so that the overall layout is clearly recognisable.

Appropriate solar protection will be created on the south-facing facades of the new buildings, with simple systems of verandas, where awnings (horizontal) or blinds (vertical) or climbing plants, such as vines bringing shade, will be placed.

In terms of shape, the architecture has been designed with simple and compact forms: straight rectangular parallelepipeds and the cylinder.

The library will be cylindrical and will be located on the site indicated to us next to the large existing cylindrical building, thereby complementing it. This will be a particularly interesting space, both in its exterior and interior form, with its interesting treatment of natural light. We would like this to be the piéce de resistance of the Lycée.

The laboratories are located in one of the new buildings, which will have spacious porches on the ground floor. We would like to make use of its well-protected rooftop as a controlled open-air recreation area, a sun lounge for the children.

The sports hall will also be very simple.