Patriarche and Autumn win the energy renovation competition for Lycée Paul Éluard in Saint-Denis.

Commissioned to carry out its comprehensive energy renovation, Patriarche and Autumn | Patriarche adopt an approach that seeks to combine a significant improvement in thermal performance with a redefinition of uses. Beyond mere regulatory compliance, the project undertakes an in-depth reflection on user comfort, with particular attention to indoor air quality, summer thermal comfort, and natural daylight—now inseparable from the overall performance of learning environments.

Carried out on an occupied site from July 2026, the construction phase represents a major challenge: a carefully orchestrated sequencing of works must ensure the continuity of teaching, the safety of users, and the control of disturbances. This context also opens the door to forms of in situ experimentation and learning, rendering the transformation of the built environment visible, raising students’ awareness of environmental and construction-related issues, and turning the project into a genuine pedagogical resource in its own right. In this way, the rehabilitation transcends its strictly technical framework to become a true vehicle for knowledge transmission.

This approach further heightens the requirement for precision and innovation in operational methods, and foreshadows a more responsible and restrained way of sustainably transforming educational facilities—without interrupting their operation.