|  | The Bergières School is one of the educational establishments built in the 1960s and 1970s under the CROCS - “Centre for Rationalisation and Organisation of School Constructions” - system. At that time Lausanne was undergoing rapid demographic growth and was faced with the need to provide school buildings very quickly. In 1966 it created the CROCS centre, which developed a rationalised and standardised system offering flexibility, rapidity of execution and low costs. Several schools were built in a very short time, at Bergières, Coteau-Fleuri, La Rouvraie and Grand-Vennes. The system proposed a modular grid which determined the design of the building. A metal structure supports concrete floor slabs and the absence of load-bearing walls allows free designation of the available space. The cladding is in glass and metal. Floors can be added without modifying the load-bearing structures. The extensive Bergières school complex, completed in 1975, was put together by the architects Marx Lévy et Bernard Vouga. It includes several classroom blocks, sports halls, a swimming pool, a canteen, etc. It extends over several floors and esplanades which intermingle, taking advantage of the slope. A concrete wall surface features a 1977 mural by the artist Arthur John. Today the CROCS school buildings, designed before the oil crisis with materials whose working life was limited, pose serious maintenance problems.
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