Franco-Peruvian School

The need to replace the original infrastructure, built in the 1950s and already obsolete in terms of seismic resistance, led to the organization of a two-phase international architecture competition.

The challenge was to completely rebuild the school while it remained operational, without interrupting classes. To achieve this, the project included a phased construction and demolition plan, adapted to both French and Peruvian regulations.

The proposal is structured around three pedagogical principles, with architecture as a facilitating framework: stimulating the playful component of learning; enabling methodologies that recognize different forms of intelligence; and promoting experiences outside the classroom to strengthen social intelligence and the spontaneous generation of bonds.

The architectural design responds to the site's conditions, organizing the complex into three functional zones. The first, adjacent to the Pan-American Highway, houses the administrative and sports areas, creating a sound barrier that protects the school from heavy traffic. The academic zone is located at the opposite end, on the former sports fields, which avoided major demolitions and allowed for the continuity of activities. Between the two zones lies an ecological zone, conceived as an active garden focused on the environment. There, students and teachers carry out urban agriculture, recycling, and flora and fauna observation and research activities.

The completed academic section is housed in a single building that combines preschool, primary, and secondary levels. Each level is accessed from the central garden via pathways that branch off along ramps winding through the trees, and a color-coded threshold distinguishes them. The different levels are arranged around open courtyards designed according to the students' age groups, creating ample space for informal learning.

Although functionally autonomous, these units remain visually connected. Regulatory limitations on the number of levels—one for preschool, two for primary, and three for secondary—were used to overlap informal learning spaces, extending their roofs as active areas without affecting the independence of each cycle. Large retractable awnings provide sun protection and create a flexible, non-programmatic “large interior” available for school life.