ECAM

Programme: Architectural and landscape redevelopment of the former "Ecam" site (École Centrale des Arts et Métiers) into a multifunctional civic object: large-capacity crèche, sports halls, educational facilities (scholastic library, homework school, sports halls for the adjacent school), artist's studio, cafeteria, communal administrative premises, playground, park within the block.

About: Involving a multitude of associations and organisations in the life of the municipality, the project demonstrates the relevance of developing an appropriation structure that allows different uses of the same place by the different actors participating in the ECAM. These include the youth, early childhood and sports department, the "buitenling" extracurricular association, and the Saint-Gilles youth centre. These organisations require premises that are suitable for extracurricular work and development. In addition, there is a scholastic library, a kind of learning centre for young people. The aim here is to develop a project capable of adapting to the multiplicity of its users, capable of offering a diversified programme within the same space, capable of communicating and being enriched by all the project's stakeholders, however varied they may be. The major movement proposed is that of opening up the block, making it porous and giving the possibility to the residents to cross it, to take advantage of the park, the playground and the activities of the site. With entrances to the site from three different streets, differences in levels and a landscaped walkway, this outdoor space becomes a mediator for access and users. The project is at once educational, cultural and social, revitalising the activities of the neighbourhood without disconnecting from the residential block in which it is inserted.