école polytechnique

After several years of construction work, the Bâtiment d’Enseignement Mutualisé at the Polytechnic School in Saclay has now opened its doors. We designed the interior and exterior lighting for this innovative teaching facility, designed by Sou Fujimoto architects, OXO Manal Rachdi and Laisné Roussel, like an “inhabited tree”. It offers multiple walkways, flexible rooms and atriums to develop interaction and new approaches to learning.

Two lighting languages coexist: that of the atrium, with projectors installed organically on the origami structure, contrasts with the lighting of the classrooms, which are highly gridded and operate on a simple grid of round downlights, with only the optics varying between the blackboard and the room. The equipment integrates flexibility into the heart of the work process: in its auditoriums as well as in the flexibility of its large staircases allowing for lectures and informal meetings. At night, the transparent building’s interior lighting is vibrant.