OMA

École Centrale engineering school . Saclay

+ OMA

In contrast to the corridor / room linearity of the typical laboratory, OMA's design is a low level, glass-roofed superblock containing an open plan grid inside, where various activities can interact and be overlooked simultaneously.

The grid offers the freedom to generate a new typology for learning, cultivating collaboration while maintaining the stable conditions of the engineering school's primary pedagogical function.
A diagonal main street slices through the grid, connecting with a future metro station for Paris at one end, and the existing engineering school, Supelec, at the other. In the centre of the project, a forum rises above the grid, offering a focal point of activity for the school. This platform accommodates a gym, administration center and classrooms for first year students, winding its way up through and above the field. This stack is conceived as a training machine offering a complementary condition to the small, intricate spaces in the horizontal field of "lab city."

he project is led by Clément Blanchet, director of OMA projects in France and was developed in collaboration with Bollinger and Grohman, Alto, DHV, DAL, and D'Ici Là.