Ateliers O-S Architectes designs community centre for a sleepy French town

In the quiet town of Pontoise, 30km from Paris, Ateliers O-S Architectes has completed a community centre and nursery designed to fall into step with its sleepy suburban setting. Its low-rise, light-coloured volumes absorb strolling citizens from casual pieces of park-land and quiet clusters of houses.
To reach the form of the building, the architects arranged a series of gradually shifting volumes together – making sure the whole reflected the massing of the surrounding architecture, and had an approachable entrance defined by the façade. A ‘curve’ opens up the entrance to the nursery, while a ‘pleat’ parts to reveal the main hall of the community centre.
The smooth design carefully hides two adjoining structures (the community centre and the nursery) beneath one roof. The two buildings have very separate functions: the community centre features multipurpose spaces for all generations, while the nursery holds 45 cradles. A series of inner courtyards and void separate the two functions internally, yet also weave them together through light and visual connections.
Subtle design elements create a conversation between the surrounding community, the building, and its interiors. The sandy colour of the stone, refined with zinc and brass detailing, was also chosen to reflect the colours of the neighbouring buildings. Patterned mashrabiyas further soften the façade, while revealing views into the interior, and the exterior lines of the building level up with the public gardens beyond.
INFORMATION
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
Harriet Thorpe is a writer, journalist and editor covering architecture, design and culture, with particular interest in sustainability, 20th-century architecture and community. After studying History of Art at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) and Journalism at City University in London, she developed her interest in architecture working at Wallpaper* magazine and today contributes to Wallpaper*, The World of Interiors and Icon magazine, amongst other titles. She is author of The Sustainable City (2022, Hoxton Mini Press), a book about sustainable architecture in London, and the Modern Cambridge Map (2023, Blue Crow Media), a map of 20th-century architecture in Cambridge, the city where she grew up.
-
Shop the gloriously mad inner workings of Gary Card’s brain in London’s Soho
Set designer and artist Gary Card has taken over London's Plaster Store – expect chaos and some really good accessories
-
Venerable British car-maker AC goes OTT with the high-output, low-slung AC GT SuperSport
Pitched at all-American fans of the original AC Cobra, the GT SuperSport is a fearsome two-seat roadster with more muscle than ever before
-
The dynamic young gallerists reinvigorating America's art scene
'Hugging has replaced air kissing' in this new wave of galleries with craft and community at their core
-
Eileen Gray: A guide to the pioneering modernist’s life and work
Gray forever shaped the course of design and architecture. Here's everything to know about her inspiring career
-
The Grand Palais is a Parisian architectural feast, emerging from a mammoth restoration project
The Grand Palais reopens, unfurling its spectacular architectural splendour, meticulously restored by Chatillon Architectes – take a tour
-
Surrealist townhouse Villa Junot lights up Montmartre – and it’s for rent
We go inside Montmartre’s Villa Junot, a former composer’s home reimagined by interior design studio Claves, where surrealism meets art deco splendour
-
Stay in a Parisian apartment which artfully balances minimalism and warmth
Tour this pied-a-terre in the 7th arrondissement, designed by Valeriane Lazard
-
Marta Pan and André Wogenscky's legacy is alive through their modernist home in France
Fondation Marta Pan – André Wogenscky: how a creative couple’s sculptural masterpiece in France keeps its authors’ legacy alive
-
Paris’ architecturally fascinating Villejuif-Gustave Roussy metro station is now open
Villejuif-Gustave Roussy is part of the new Grand Paris Express, a transport network that will raise the architectural profile of the Paris suburbs
-
Explore wood architecture, Paris' new timber tower and how to make sustainable construction look ‘iconic’
A new timber tower brings wood architecture into sharp focus in Paris and highlights ways to craft buildings that are both sustainable and look great: we spoke to project architects LAN, and explore the genre through further examples
-
A transformed chalet by Studio Razavi redesigns an existing structure into a well-crafted Alpine retreat
This overhauled chalet in the French Alps blends traditional forms with a highly bespoke interior