In September 2022, 1 750 students and 400 teachers from L'École de design Nantes Atlantique returned to school in 2022 in an 11,600 m2 setting, located on the Ile de Nantes, in the heart of the district dedicated to creation. Previously spread over different sites all around the metropolis, they now have a dedicated campus to develop their creativity.
The body of the building is distinguished from the neighboring blocks by the softness of its curves and, it gives the sensation of levitating above the public space. This work is on five levels integrating classrooms, offices, studios and Design Labs, thematic laboratories for teaching, research, and innovation. It is overlooked by a terrace that offers stunning views of the island.

"What is strong about this project is that it touches us intimately, we immediately put ourselves in the shoes of young designers, we imagined ourselves when we arrived at our design school. How this place, this school, by its design will embody an element of pedagogy.
You are young, you are just starting your journey, you may not yet know the history of architecture or design, but the very place of your training, is an element of discovery, learning. These elements that you encounter every day are integrated into your imagination, quite naturally, you acquire notions, ways of conceiving, which will serve you for your own work.
A place of exchange, a place of life, a place of demonstration, this is how the Agora was conceived, which has become the living heart of the school."

Patrick Jouin

Open to the city thanks to its translucent facades, the entire building is structured around an agora, a central and modular space that is transformed into an amphitheater as well as an exhibition space or a shared workspace to facilitate meetings and the unexpected encounters.
This architectural gesture draws a school connected with the world: a place of learning through the eyes, the body, and sensations. The opportunity to unite all sensibilities in order to imagine and build the world of tomorrow.