Henning Larsen and Patriarche have won an international competition to design a new French business school for NEOMA,
the innovative “Grande Ecole” for higher education.
Design Features
The school has an area of 26,000 square meters, and is scheduled to be built on the new Reims campus in Neuma,
France. It will accommodate 4,700 students and is scheduled to open at the beginning of the 2025 academic year.
Design shape
The school consists of a wooden structure in a grid plan,
while the large hall places the student at the heart of the building,
and the project will be made of wood and glass to enhance the friendly atmosphere and flood the area with an abundance of light.
The team was selected in the competition, from among 40 world-renowned architectural practices,
all of which comprised a group of major projects in higher education, which competed to design these new spaces.
The team won an award for an innovative project that combines innovation,
respect for the environment and above all a focus on students’ lives.
Design location
The project is located west of downtown Reims,
and the site has naturally become part of a neighborhood in the conversion.
This is a former industrial site today that is partially deserted and the city of Reims wants a second wind to blow.
In the past, the Port Colbert area was filled with all of the city’s industries:
Reims breweries and cast aluminum workshops among other things.
The aim of the city of Reims and the project is also to transform this sector while preserving and enhancing
what makes this place’s identity: its history and industrial heritage.
This project also offers many advantages, especially a strong visual identity that will make the campus clearly recognizable.
In addition, it combines very strong identifying elements, for example the large hall that places the student at the heart of the building.
They also preferred the use of wood and glass to enhance the friendly atmosphere
and flood the area with light, and access to green spaces was planned both on and off campus Last few years.
Revealed the design of the French school of woodworking
That is why, for The New School, the practice is inspired by the
“entrepreneurial atmosphere that changed the region from a geographical location to a place in people’s minds.”
The new campus will open towards the canal and surrounding gardens,
and will offer views of the bustling student life.
With its central wooden structure, it aims to grab the attention of passersby with its gradient green landscape.
The school will have 85 classrooms, three amphitheaters and an event space with a 750-seat auditorium accessible from the outside.
In design and construction, Henning Larsen will work with NEOMA in line with the school’s strong commitments to sustainable principles.
The future Reims site aims to be an environmental standard, with internationally recognized certifications such as LEED, WELL and E+C.
The project also places the health and well-being of students and staff at the center of its design.
Henning Larsen currently works on a new campus in the heart of Innsbruck, Austria.
The Nordic Swan Ecolabel Primary School project is under construction at Sundby in Lolland-Falster, Denmark.
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