Ecole W, 210 rue du Faubourg Saint Antoine

Offering students a different way of looking at their training

The ambition of the Ecole W, created by the Centre de Formation des Journalistes (CFJ) on the initiative of Emmanuel Chain, is to offer its students a different way of looking at their training, drawing on a solid general culture to invent, anticipate and participate in the emergence of professions whose mission is to control and steer the content of the thousands of information flows in the contemporary world.

A challenge worthy of the A26 agency's innovative spirit.
The agency thus carried out a major renovation of the building, comprising 5 basement levels and a surface area of 2,500 m², housing 30 modular and connected classrooms, a 250-seat conference room, a creativity room, 2 radio and video studios, an incubator and 4 relaxation rooms.

All using BIM - Building Information Modelling - techniques.

Key issues

• Transforming a Faubourg building dating from the late 1800s and designed in a metal and brick structure into a 21st century school, classified as ERP type R
• Highlighting the Eiffel-type structure and retaining an industrial spirit
• A "cabaret restaurant" for the entire construction site in the basement.
• Creation of a single-storey access to the street, with the problem of disabled access and modification of the façade subject to approval by the Architecte des Bâtiments de France.
• Replace all deteriorated original wooden floors with concrete slabs
• Create a two-unit staircase running the full height of the building
• Partial underpinning