WATA - World Architecture Technal Awards Edition 2019 | Page 60
AWARD RENOVATION
University Centre, Cahors
France
Architect Agency
ŒCO Architectes
Owner
Syndicat Mixte Ouvert du Campus Universitaire Cadurcien
Technal Metal Builder
Realco
64
The rehabilitation project of the University Centre of Cahors
has made it possible to transform a former girls’ school dating
from 1887 into a mixed facility open to the city and responding
to the new challenges of higher education. The agency partially
emptied the 4000 square meters building to enhance its original
composition and adapt it to the new uses of the ESPE, the
University of Toulouse - History of Art and Archaeology, and the
Resource Center of Canopé. The wooden floor was replaced by a
concrete floor, and the SOLEAL 65 windows and doors replaced
the wooden ones. They bring a contemporary spirit while
drawing inspiration from the site’s historical regulatory routes.
The black aluminium of the joinery, the wood of the ceilings, the
natural concrete and the stone walls are raw materials that offer
consistency to the project.
Meticulous work has been carried out by the metal builder
Realco who manufactures the 74 curved tailor-made windows so
they perfectly match the existing stone frames. The joineries are
designed with concealed openings. The thin width of the profiles
is identical to the fixed frames for an overall unit. Their black tint
also reinforces the erasure from the outside view. The thermal
performance of SOLEAL 65 window, combined with 50 cm thick
stone walls, has made it possible to eliminate any additional
insulation system. The durability of the walls is ensured and the
inertia of the building optimized.
ŒCO Architects has created a glass gallery overlooking the
Garden Court to the west on the ground floor. The GEODE
curtain wall stretches over 30 m long and is fitted with 3.5 m
high glass panels. Their discreet mullion are hidden behind
posts or steel brise-soleil, which bring verticality to the project.
The only contemporary extension of this program is an ‘’H’’
shape, the gallery is the link between the Garden Court and the
Honour Court. It opens the shared rooms to the outside and
maximises the fluidity of the ways.
Following a historical research work on the evolution and
successive extensions of the building, the ŒCO Architects
agency decided to place the Honour Court at the heart of the
project, which over the years has become a vast car park.
Emptied of its cars, it has returned to the students through the
creation of an elevated wooden square integrating accessibility
requirements. The other courtyard is levelled to become a
garden gently sloping down.