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LIBER.ARCHI × POESAGES
Regeneration and Living Soils — 2024
Unsealing a Schoolyard
Location
Chambéry area, France
Area
300 m²
The Concept
Under the asphalt of a schoolyard, a soil had been waiting decades to breathe again. How do we prepare our schoolyards for heatwaves? Here, the asphalt was stripped out wherever it did nothing but store heat. With POESAGES, three trees and some 300 m² of lawn took its place, completed in 2024. Rainwater now reaches the ground, instead of running off toward a drain.
What this project explores
- Unsealing a schoolyard: lawn in place of asphalt
- Three shade trees, planted young
- Direct stormwater infiltration on-site
"It took very little to make a start: the water sinks in from today, the shade will come with the years."
SCHOOLYARD DEPAVING PRINCIPLE
Mineral Yard (Before)
40°
30°
20°
42°CStifling Heat
Direct solar radiation
Solar rays hit the dark mineral surface directly without any vegetative barrier.
Thermal bounce & reverberation
Dark asphalt absorbs heat and reflects remaining radiation directly onto the school walls.
Urban heat island (asphalt)
The yard traps heat during the day and releases it at night, creating continuous overheating.
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