A set of particularities differentiated the THIERRY campus from other environment-friendly sites around the globe. The school's objectives extended beyond the usual 'green management', waste recycling, or other environmental protection policies. At THIERRY we find the human-activity spaces subordinate to the natural environment, not the environment to fit mankind. Yet, preserving the site in manner that not expose it to external influences does not and cannot seclude it from its habitat at-large.

Shaping, landscaping, the premises

Instead of being a designed park or greenery architecture, the 7,000 m2 campus grounds are truly part of their surrounding environment: the adjacent woods (850 hectares - 2,100 acres), and the village (90 inhabitants). The campus was thus "given" a biotope space while undergoing the influences of the natural ecosystem at large. Geography, climate, and temperature extremes also come into play, as  summer temperature can peak at 40° C, and winter at -19° C. At THIERRY the human factor is one of tending to the ecology, to the" natural balance of things". For example, the lawns are not from cultivated grass seeds but are the original pasture grasses, weeds,... Endogenous plants are favoured, such as the yellow flag iris growing in small marshes on lime soil. The tree species include alder, elm, ash, beech, hornbeam, oak, and birch.

  next:  the House      more pictures here