4 unités LC - Architecture Insights

The Rooftop School
91-92. Windows looking in to
the rooftop pre-school of the
‘Unité’ in Rezé.
The rooftop school in Rezé, along with the one in Marseille, is
the one of the two last remaining functioning schools of all the
‘Unité’ buildings. 23 And being over 45 years old, L’Ecole
Maternelle Le Corbusier is in need of refurbishment. The
teachers of the school believe its presently deteriorated
condition to be unsatisfactory and unsafe. 24 The school was to
be closed early last year with the hope that the desired
renovations would take place, however, insufficient funds
prevented this occurrence, and a petition organised by the
building’s inhabitants, who feared that the closure would be
definitive, maintained the continued functioning of the school.
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93-94. Inside the rooftop preschool
of the ‘Unité’ in Rezé.
Deterioration of the teaching spaces and equipment, however, is
not the only problem. The location of the building under the flight
path to and from Nantes airport and the severe wind levels often
experienced at this height greatly restricts the use of the roof
terrace that is intended to provide a play area for the school. These
two factors not only limit the play equipment permissible for the
children 25 , making the terrace rather desolate and bleak, but they
also produce difficulties with the health of the children – the wind
levels creating ear and nose problems, particularly during winter. 26
But this is not all, as the wind also hinders the growth of plants
that would otherwise add colour and life to the dull concrete
surfaces of the terrace. For unlike in Marseille, although planting
pots were equally provided in the design of the building, the harsh
climate to which the plants are exposed here completely prevents
their ability to be cultivated.