ISALAB Engineering School | Patrick Arotcharen Architecte

 ISALAB is an engineering school focused on the construction and building sectors, in addition to the Montaury campus in Anglet, South-West France. The school’s three volumes are arranged from west to east along the eastern edge of the site, opening onto a square and garden designed as a clearing in the Montaury forest.

Sculpted by paths and planting introduced into the patio areas, the building weaves subtle links with nature and its immediate surroundings. Echoing the patios, the internal space is structured around generous atriums built for circulation, exchange, and conviviality. The passive construction combines the thermal inertia of concrete with external insulation. On all facades, the building combines natural light with solar shading, taking this theme as the guiding principle in the design of its surfaces exposed to the sun.

Intended for training focused on construction in concrete, the building displays the material in its unfinished state throughout the internal spaces. The structure is the constant element within the building, onto which are grafted all those that need to be moved, dismantled, and reassembled according to operational requirements and changes in use, such as partitions, sound absorbers, insulation, solar shading, and services.

This distinction, along with the raw expression of the structure and grafted elements, is the primary hallmark of the building. This approach showcases the assembly process and demonstrates, for both visitors and users, the work of the different building trades, right down to the guts of the services. It enables all those involved in the act of construction to display their work, and provides an introduction to building trades for the students.

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