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- École Marcel Pagnol
A garden school under solar glass — roof, shade and generator in one plane
An école-jardin where energy is not hidden but legible
Reduce energy, raise environmental literacy, teach with the building
Commissioned by the City of Cannes and opened for the 2013 school year, Marcel Pagnol replaced a tired 1960s block with a campus conceived around health, pedagogy and frugality. Mascherpa Architectes — Guy Mascherpa and Marie-Pierre Broutta-Mascherpa — answered with five nursery and eight primary classes tied together by gardens, a vegetated roof and a glazed atrium whose roof is, crucially, active.
Where most schools treat photovoltaics as bolt-on equipment, Marcel Pagnol makes power part of its structure. The cell matrix casts a fine, even pattern across the floor; the southern light is tempered to a useful luminance. Children stand in its soft shade and learn — sometimes explicitly, often tacitly — that clean power is not remote infrastructure but something a roof can do.
A primary weathering layer — certified, not merely permitted
- BIPV canopy as primary weathering layer: water-tight, safe and durable over a school’s lifespan
- ATEx type B approval required at CSTB — among the first French PV verrière applications (2013)
- Daylight quality: tempered, glare-free brightness in classrooms and covered circulation
- Integration into the school’s electrical infrastructure by Quénéa Énergies Renouvelables
- Coordination with natural ventilation and smoke control systems (Souchier-Boullet)
- Panel geometry tailored to atrium spans; cabling and drainage absorbed into support profiles
Why it fits: ISSOL® Square’s crystalline cell matrix — spaced for daylight admission — delivers the atrium’s botanical brightness without a separate shading layer. Factory lamination into safety glass with clean edge zones, disciplined fixings and pre-fitted connectors reduced risk and programme on site. The geometry was tailored to the atrium’s spans so the canopy reads as a single thin plane: the finish looks simple because the construction is exact. Delivered under the SOLTECH flag and engineered on site with Quénéa Énergies Renouvelables.
Parameters for rapid evaluation
| Parameter | Value | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Application | BIPV atrium canopy | Primary weathering layer; school atrium / circulation |
| ISSOL® solution | ISSOL® Square | Glass-glass laminate; crystalline cell matrix; cell spacing for daylight admission |
| Installed capacity | ~19.7 kWp | BIPV canopy |
| Active area | ~240 m² | Semi-transparent PV glazing |
| Annual yield | c. 25–30 MWh/yr | Indicative; site-dependent; Cannes climate |
| Panel construction | Laminated safety glass + crystalline Si cells | Cell spacing tuned to daylight targets; factory pre-fitted connectors |
| Integration | Quénéa Énergies Renouvelables | Electrical integration into school infrastructure |
| Ventilation | Souchier-Boullet | Natural ventilation and smoke control coordination |
| Completed | September 2013 | Opened for the 2013–14 school year |
“Parents spoke, on opening day, about wanting to return to school; teachers spoke about light and air.”
École Marcel Pagnol — Cannes La Bocca, opening day 2013
From design intent to a roof that teaches
