Architect Gaëtan Le Penhuel and his associates have been awarded France's prestigious Silver Square Award (Équerre d'argent) 2025 for their groundbreaking school design in Tremblay-en-France, Seine-Saint-Denis. The jury of the 43rd edition of this national architecture prize, organized by Le Moniteur and AMC magazines, announced their decision on Monday, November 24, recognizing a project that fundamentally reimagines how schools should be designed and built.
The winning project is the Simone-Veil School Group, a 1,850-square-meter building complemented by 2,350 square meters of outdoor spaces. The school was completed in late August 2025, just in time for the new academic year. Under the leadership of jury president Philippe Prost, an architect renowned for his emblematic rehabilitation projects including the Paris Mint Hotel and the Belle-Île-en-Mer citadel, the panel chose to honor new construction over renovation projects.
What makes this school particularly innovative is its response to an experimental call for projects from the Créteil Academy, which challenged architects to "imagine school differently." Le Penhuel and his associates, well-known in the profession for their lightweight architecture approach, collaborated with the city of Tremblay-en-France as project owner to create a design that addresses contemporary architectural imperatives in the era of climate urgency.
The school introduces several groundbreaking features that set it apart from traditional educational buildings. Most notably, the spaces are shared with the leisure center, particularly the classrooms, which are significantly larger than conventional school rooms. These expanded learning spaces are flooded with natural light thanks to a dual orientation design that maximizes daylight exposure throughout the day.
According to the jury, this school "can serve as a model because it re-examines how schools should be built" and successfully addresses all architectural requirements in our current climate emergency context. The project represents a new paradigm in educational architecture, demonstrating how innovative design can create more sustainable, flexible, and effective learning environments.
The Silver Square Award is France's most prestigious national architecture prize, recognizing excellence in contemporary French architecture. This year's selection of an educational building reflects the growing emphasis on sustainable design and the critical importance of reimagining public infrastructure for the 21st century. Le Penhuel's victory highlights the potential for architects to transform traditional institutional buildings into more adaptive, environmentally conscious spaces that serve multiple community functions.
