Lycée de Nantes

The Lycée de Nantes, a new high school designed by Asymptote, is an extension of the city's educational network and is a vital addition to the local community.
The project is designed to connect with the surrounding urban context and engage with the city's cultural life. The site consists of various landscaped interstitial spaces where courtyards and gardens, plazas, and walkways, link the different building components throughout the new campus. Similarly, the building interiors are connected to the exterior through communal semi-conditioned large open areas and light-filled green spaces.

The architecture utilizes these strategies of spatial extension and connection with the site to distribute and arrange the school's various programs and maintain an overall scale that aligns with its surroundings. Connected open spaces and facilities shared with the community enable high social engagement among faculty, students, residents, and visitors.

The design of the Lycee emphasizes interconnectivity and open environments, celebrating the intersection of the life of the school with that of the city.

The use of landscape elements and the continuity of materials along with the transparency of the façades reinforce the links between interior and exterior public space, while strengthening the overall connections of the school to the city. The architecture ultimately is a celebration of education, student life and the interface between nature and city.