French studio Amelia Tavella Architectes referenced fossils for the textured stone facade of the Auguste Benedict School, which is designed to appear as though it has "emerged from the earth".
Nicknamed Fossil Building by the studio, the long, low-lying structure sits at the bottom of a hill in the southern French village of Cabriès and combines kindergarten and elementary school spaces.
Its pale tones and textures draw on both fossils and the masonry structures typical to the village, while its form follows the adjacent street.
The stone facade draws on fossils
Fossil Building is topped by a green roof, helping it to blend into the stepped hillside when viewed from above and opening up to the landscape from below.
"My approach is to collaborate with the local nature rather than dominate it," studio founder Amelia Tavella told Dezeen. "As if emerging from the earth and then disappearing, crawling like a snake, [the building] bears the imprint of the stone, its strata, its identity," she continued.
A green roof helps the school blend into the stepped hillside
Facing a forecourt to the south, the school's ground floor facade is almost entirely glazed. This gives all of the classrooms access to a landscaped outdoor area sheltered by the overhang of the first floor above.
On the first floor, Amelia Tavella Architectes placed a tea room, library, shared activity space and elementary school classrooms, which feature a ribbon window shaded by vertica...