French architecture firm H20 Architectes has given light to a nursery school sited in an unusually tight and narrow courtyard site in Paris. Located in the shadow of surrounding buildings, the new facility has been designed with a glass facade and corresponding shade canopy that appears to lift effortlessly at the front entrance, belying its rigid construction.

The extension and renovation of Epée de Bois nursery school in Paris, which opened this year, has provided an airy space for 24 children and features a rooftop play area guarded by the crimped and undulating shade screen along the structure’s parapet. The new envelope will let light penetrate into the interior of the preschool while achieving high energy performance.

The facility is built on three levels including its basement—two for children and one for offices—and the roof terrace has been imagined as an open playground enclosed by glass panes. “The extension of the nursery is an opportunity to give new coherence to the group of buildings,” H20 Architects said in a statement.