Every week, we will present a taste of the schools or universities which will be showcased in the forthcoming publication: Designing for Education: Compendium of Exemplary Educational Facilities 2011 (see also www.oecd.org/edu/facilities/compendium). Click here to read about the most outstanding project and five other exceptional projects selected by the international jury.

 

Facility of the week:

Hilde-Domin, Herrenburg, Germany

 

The new structure respects the style and character of the existing building, with open, flexible and pleasant surroundings in a setting that fosters a sense of nature and respect for the environment. The wooden exteriors are constructed from locally sourced larch. Through the main entrance, visitors enter a generously glazed lobby. This gives beautiful views across meadows and orchards. From the lobby, pupils can access a recreation yard sheltered by the projecting form of the roof. The interior is characterised by the open forms of the classrooms and workshops, which are extensively glazed to both the façade and the corridor, creating airy, open perspectives, promoting visual contact between the school community.

 

LEVEL OF EDUCATION	Vocational education and training
NO. OF STUDENTS	80
TYPE OF PROJECT	Extension
GROSS BUILDING AREA	1 200 m2
YEAR OF COMPLETION	2007
CLIENT	Landratsamt Böblingen
ARCHITECT	Behnisch Architekten
CONTEXT	The college is located in the centre of Baden-Württemberg in south-west Germany. Herrenburg has a population of nearly 30 000 inhabitants.
For more information...	pr@behnisch.com
Photo credit: Frank Ockert

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Previous facilities of the week:

Scuola primaria e secondaria Stefanacci, San Piero a Sieve, Italy

 

The building, which is an extension of an existing school, has a modern character with contemporary interior spaces. It provides a contrast to the original 1950s and 1960s school buildings, but is in complete harmony with the traditional Tuscan architecture of the town and the surrounding built environment. Constructed in pietra serena (a grey sandstone), plaster, wood and marble, the building is organised in two interlocking volumes. One volume encloses the auditorium and provides the external walls for three sides of the building. The second block houses the offices and classrooms, and this is offset within the first volume to create a pleasing asymmetry. The overall effect of the inclined and curved walls and irregular shapes is to produce a interesting and dynamic form. Further contrast and tone is added by the brilliant white plaster walls, the grey stone surfaces and the wooden door and window frames.

 

LEVEL OF EDUCATION	Primary and lower secondary
NO. OF STUDENTS	80
TYPE OF PROJECT	Extension
GROSS BUILDING AREA	630 m2
YEAR OF COMPLETION	2009
CLIENT	Municipality of San Piero a Sievebio
ARCHITECT	Fabio Capanni Workshop
CONTEXT	San Peiro a Sieve is a small town 20km north of Florence.
For more information...	studio@fabiocapanni.it
Photo credit: Fabio Capanni

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Escola Estadual Bairro Feital, Bairro Feital, Mauá, Brazil

 

In addition to providing a new educational resource in an area where demand for school places has exceeded supply, this project sought to provide a building that would serve the wider community and enhance the urban environment. The school is located at the foot of the hill in two separate blocks: one 13-classroom teaching block on 3 floors and the second block containing facilities for community use, including a sports hall and spaces for adult education programmes. The trees and open grassland towards the top of the site have been preserved as a recreational area open to the community. At the front of the school, a 10 metre setback from the street which was previously used as a parking lot has been transformed into a plaza. The school is not separated from the rest of the district behind a wall or fence, giving the impression that all are welcome.

 

LEVEL OF EDUCATION	Primary
NO. OF STUDENTS	812
TYPE OF PROJECT	New school
GROSS BUILDING AREA	2 486  m2
YEAR OF COMPLETION	2008
CLIENT	Foundation for the Development of Education, Sao Paulo State Department of Education
ARCHITECT	César Shundi Iwamizu, Alexandre Mirandez, Marcelo Pontes, Ricardo Bellio and Moracy Amaral, SIAA
CONTEXT	Mauá is a municipality in the state of São Paulo (population approx. 500 000). Bairro Feital is a suburb in a low-income area of Mauá, which consists of highly compact housing with many self-built dwellings.
For more information...	shundi@siaa.arq.br
Photo credit: Carlos Kipnis

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Bâtiment Atrium, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, France

 

The facility enhances this renowned university complex by completing the grid plan designed in the 1960s by the architect Eduoard Albert. Although it connects to adjacent buildings to form a large open courtyard with the same pattern of windows as the neighbouring buildings, the building is enveloped in eight panels of perforated sheet aluminium that produce a set of random patterns. Inside, the building is organised around a  large, covered central atrium. Criss-crossed by circulation routes and by stairs and escalators linking the different floors of the building, and flanked by open balconies. For ease of navigation, the building is colour coded, with bold colours on floors, walls and doors denoting the different disciplines.

 

LEVEL OF EDUCATION	Tertiary
NO. OF STUDENTS	3 500
TYPE OF PROJECT	New building on existing campus
GROSS BUILDING AREA	16 895 m2
YEAR OF COMPLETION	2006
CLIENT	Etablissement Public de Campus de Jussieu (EPCJ)
ARCHITECT	Emmanuelle Marin-Trottin, David Trottin and Anne-Françoise Jumeau, Périphériques Architectes
CONTEXT	Bâtiment Atrium is a new addition to the Jussieu campus of Université Pierre et Marie Curie (UPMC). It is located in the centre of Paris, betweem the quai Saint-Bernard on the Seine and the Sorbonne and botanical gardens.
For more information...	agences@peripheriques-architectes.com
Photo credit: Luc Boegly

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Tervaväylän koulu, Lohipadon yksikkö, Oulu, Finland

 

All students attending this school have profound physical and sensory disabilities. Great care has therefore been taken to provide a learning environment that supports each student and facilitates independent working. Three large elevators allow students to move easily between floors. The floor plans are simple, following the L-shaped structure of the building, with wide corridors for ease of movement. To further assist students with sensory impairments to navigate the building, there are great contrasts between the floor and wall colouring, distinctive and bold colours on columns and other structures, no backlighting but only side lighting in hallways, and distinctive floor markings. Every feature in the school has been designed to be accessible to all users, for example all desks in In  classrooms and workshopsare height-adjustable. The school provides a wide range of therapies and support spaces for disabled children and their families on each floor.

 

LEVEL OF EDUCATION	Primary to upper secondary
NO. OF STUDENTS	50
TYPE OF PROJECT	New school
GROSS BUILDING AREA	5 455 m2
YEAR OF COMPLETION	2009
CLIENT	Senate Properties, Oulu
ARCHITECT	Linja Architects
CONTEXT	This is one of eight special schools maintained by the Finnish government to provide education for severely disabled children. This is the only facility of its type in the north of the country.
For more information...	toimisto@linja-arkkitehdit.fi
Photo credit: Raimo Ahonen

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Incheon International High School, Yeongjong Island, Incheon, Korea

 

The school campus is on an undulating site surrounded by woodland. The main buildings have been sited to harmonise with this natural environment and to cluster teaching, residential and sports facilities in separate zones. Throughout the campus, promenades provide easy access between the various facilities on site. These also offer spaces for relaxation. A “green axis” runs through the campus, providing a pedestrian route from a small area of woodland at the upper end of the site through a patio containing an open-air circular theatre to a courtyard between the teaching block and the gym. All teaching facilities are housed in a six-storey block, comprising a central spine and three wings. There building has been carefully planned to maximise the natural light and ventilation.

 

LEVEL OF EDUCATION	Upper secondary
NO. OF STUDENTS	200
TYPE OF PROJECT	New school
GROSS BUILDING AREA	5 495 m2
YEAR OF COMPLETION	2007
CLIENT	Incheon Metropolitan Office of Education
ARCHITECT	Lee Yong Sun, Sun Architects & Engineers
CONTEXT	This new international high school is part of a larger educational complex on Yeongjong Island, located near the Incheon International Airport, off the west coast of the city of Incheon. Incheon is Korea's third most populated city.
For more information...	asun@asun.co.kr

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Aadharshila Vatika, New Delhi, India

 

The school has been carefully designed to provide a child-friendly environment. The bold use of colours, variety of non-regular spaces and customised furniture and fittings create a playful ambience. The building plan is based on a hexagonal shape, and encloses an open courtyard that provides a secure open play space. The grounds also include a playground, a swimming pool surrounded by wooden decking and a shower, and a small stage for holding assemblies in the open. The five classroom areas have big windows looking out into the corridor and into the grounds, which allows parents to watch class activities, and makes it easier for staff to supervise children inside and outside of the classroom.

 

LEVEL OF EDUCATION	Kindergarten
NO. OF STUDENTS	90
TYPE OF PROJECT	New school
GROSS BUILDING AREA	700 m2
YEAR OF COMPLETION	2008
CLIENT	Vijay Goel
ARCHITECT	Dimension Architects
CONTEXT	New Delhi has a population of almost 300 000 inhabitants.
For more information...	www.dimensionarchitects.com

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Escuela No 330 de Tiempo Completo, Montevideo, Uruguay

 

This new school comprises a sports court, tree-lined terraces and patios, and an open amphitheatre. Classrooms are organised in four blocks, with three or four classrooms arranged over one or two levels, and large circulation spaces. These blocks are arranged around a central atrium space, which is the core of the school. Overlooked on three sides by the wide and open corridors on the upper floors, this space affords clear views out to the courtyard and school grounds through a glazed wall. It is used by students from different classes to work together on joint projects or to take part in workshops. It also serves as a recreation space at break times during cold and rainy days, and it can be used for physical education and school assemblies. The compact design has kept construction costs low, and yet allowed the inclusion of the large multipurpose space.

 

LEVEL OF EDUCATION	Primary
NO. OF STUDENTS	300
TYPE OF PROJECT	New school
GROSS BUILDING AREA	1 760 m2
YEAR OF COMPLETION	2009
CLIENT	Administración Nacional de Educación Pública
ARCHITECT	Pedro Barrán Casas
CONTEXT	This new school is situated in a northern suburb of Montevideo, characterised by low-rise residential homes, close to the Maronas racecourse.
For more information...	pedrobarran@yahoo.com
Photo credit: Pedro Barran Casas

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Marlowe Academy, Ramsgate, United Kingdom (England)

 

This colourful new academy is more like a campus than a traditional school. The  three academic specialisations of the school - performing arts, science and humanities - form three curved teaching wings spiralling around a sequence of open and enclosed social spaces, including the arena, a restaurant, IT resource areas, library, sports hall and theatre. The clients’ vision of forming a community of learners is achieved through an open learning environment where pupils and teachers can see and be seen. The sequence of spaces has the feel of being outdoors, with streets and squares formed between the classroom wings and the sports hall and theatre.

 

LEVEL OF EDUCATION	Secondary
NO. OF STUDENTS	820
TYPE OF PROJECT	New campus
GROSS BUILDING AREA	10 320 m2
YEAR OF COMPLETION	2007
CLIENT	Department of Children, Schools and Families, Roger de Haan, Kent County Council
ARCHITECT	BDP
CONTEXT	Ramsgate is a seaside town with a population of 40 000 inhabitants in the district of Thanet in east Kent, England. Marlowe Academy replaced the failing Ramsgate School in 2007.
For more information...	enquiries@bdp.com
Photo credit: BDP/ David Barbour

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Murska Sobota School of Economics, Murska Sobota, Slovenia

 

Located close to a new commercial and industrial development, the new school has become a centre for sport, cultural activities and other social events. Through its rational design and flexible use of space, the school easily accommodates its different users groups and works as a small community. The school building is characterised by a uniform and restrained façade realised in dark grey ceramic tiles punctuated by long glass lines, which contrasts strongly with the colourful facades in the nearby commercial area, and provides a neutral background for the school’s external spaces.

 

LEVEL OF EDUCATION	Upper secondary to tertiary
NO. OF STUDENTS
TYPE OF PROJECT	New campus
GROSS BUILDING AREA	11 317 m2
YEAR OF COMPLETION	2007
CLIENT	Hypo Leasing, d. o. o., Ljubljana and Ministry of Education and Sport, Slovenia
ARCHITECT	Rok Benda, Primož Hocevar and Mitja Zorc; IZTR d.o.o.
CONTEXT	Murska Sobota is the regional centre of Prekmurje in northeastern Slovenia. It has a population of nearly 12 000 people.
For more information...	rok.benda@guest.arnes.si
Photo credit: Miran Kambic

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The Lilley Centre, Brisbane Grammar School, Brisbane, Australia

 

The Lilley Centre is the hub for the Brisbane Grammar School’s academic infrastructure, incorporating the library, information technology, and counselling, advisory and professional development services in a learner centred environment. It has many flexible and technologically enhanced learning spaces, providing learners with immediate access to knowledge and information in multiple formats and combinations. The building is sited so as to link, spatially and visually, the traditional gothic architecture of the school to the urban streetscape of central Brisbane.

 

LEVEL OF EDUCATION	Secondary
NO. OF STUDENTS	1417
TYPE OF PROJECT	New centre
GROSS BUILDING AREA	6 200 m2 (Centre)
YEAR OF COMPLETION	2010
CLIENT	Brisbane Grammar School
ARCHITECT	Wilson Architects
CONTEXT	The school is located in the heart of Brisbane, the capital city of the state of Queensland in southeast Australia, with a population of over 2 million inhabitants.
For more information...	hamilton@wilsonarchitects.com.au
Photo credit: Christopher Frederick Jones

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Sino-French Centre, Tongji University, Shanghai, China

 

The Sino-French Centre houses the Sino-French Institute of Engineering and Management, a joint initiative between Tongji University and ParisTech, a consortium that brings togther 12 leading grandes écoles francaises. Designed to symbolise the educational and cultural exchange between China and France, the building is organised around the idea of a “hand in a hand”: two similar but non-identical angular volumes overlap and interlace each othercreating a series of interesting and non-uniform interior and exterior spaces. In order to emphasise the juxtaposition of two different cultures, contrasting materials are used for the different components of the complex.

 

LEVEL OF EDUCATION	Tertiary
NO. OF STUDENTS	300
TYPE OF PROJECT	New building on existing campus
GROSS BUILDING AREA	13 575 m2
YEAR OF COMPLETION	2006
CLIENT	Tongji University
ARCHITECT	Zhang Bin and Zhou Wei, Atelier Z+
CONTEXT	Tongji University is located in the municipal city of Shanghai and is composed of five campuses, which cover an area of 2460000 m2. The The Sino-French Centre is located at the Siping Road Campus.
For more information...	atelier_zplus@163.com
Photo credit: Atelier Z+

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Media en Design Academie, KHLim, Genk, Belgium

 

The design of this campus, which provides higher education courses in the audiovisual and plastic arts and in product design, seeks to stimulate and support creativity in innovation. A central feature of the new building is the “study landscape”, a vast space in the core of the building for meetings, interactions, experiments, social contacts and exchanges of ideas between all students and teachers. The space contains nine open plan classrooms, open studios as well as circulation zones. The design also contains many architectural references to the city's coal-mining and industrial heritage, for example with steel winding shafts from the disused mine reflected in the facade.

 

LEVEL OF EDUCATION	Tertiary
NO. OF STUDENTS	450
TYPE OF PROJECT	New campus
GROSS BUILDING AREA	7 000 m2
YEAR OF COMPLETION	2009
CLIENT	Katholieke Hogeschool Limburg vzw
ARCHITECT	VBM Architecten; Bogdan & Van Broeck Architects
CONTEXT	Genk is a city and municipality with a population of nearly 65 000 inhabitants located in the  province of Limburg. An industrial city, Genk is the 3rd largest city in Flanders.
For more information...	office@bvbarchitects.com
Photo credit: Hennie Raaymakers

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Cork Institute of Technology, Bishopstown Campus, Ireland

 

Referencing historic university campuses such as Trinity College Dublin, three new buildings have been built around a circular green. The new complex comprises a student centre, an administration building and a tourism and hospitality studies block. The student centre accommodates a bar, café, student union, art gallery, common room, and bookshop as well as banks and the college radio station. It is formed about a large internal courtyard, designed for every sort of activity, like a village square. The administration building and the tourism and hospitality building are located on a rock outcrop, a phenomenon of the local karst limestone.

 

LEVEL OF EDUCATION	Tertiary
NO. OF STUDENTS	12 000
TYPE OF PROJECT	New buildings on existing campus
GROSS BUILDING AREA	10 015 m2
YEAR OF COMPLETION	2006
CLIENT	Cork Institute of Technology
ARCHITECT	Shane de Blacam, de Blacam and Meagher Boyd Barrett Murphy O’Connor Architects
CONTEXT	CIT  has four separate campuses. The main campus is located in Bishopstown, which is a town in the southwestern suburb of Cork with a population of 24 136 inhabitants.
For more information...	mail@debm.ie
Photo credit: Peter Cook

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Snells Beach School, New Zealand

 

The school places a strong emphasis on community participation and environmental sustainability. Buildings were designed with the local community to blend in with the look of the compact and simple houses in the area. The school has a five-star green rating signifying “New Zealand Excellence”: the classrooms are designed for excellent airflow and passive heating; windows are at student height in all rooms, so that when children are seated they can see outside; and rainwater is collected and filtered for use at school. Each single storey teaching block incorporates two classrooms designed to facilitate a range of pedagogies and professional work spaces that teachers use for planning and administrative purposes.

 

LEVEL OF EDUCATION	Primary
NO. OF STUDENTS	173
TYPE OF PROJECT	New school
GROSS BUILDING AREA	1 824 m2
YEAR OF COMPLETION	2009
CLIENT	Northern Regional Office, Ministry of Education
ARCHITECT	Brewer Davidson Architects
CONTEXT	Snells Beach is a small but growing seaside town in the north of Auckland Region in the North Island of New Zealand, with a population of over 3000 residents.
For more information...	stuart@brewerdavidson.co.nz

 

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École de Cressy et Centre de Quartier, Confignon, Switzerland

 

Designed as a focal point for the new community, the three buildings - the large cuboid school building, auditorium and gymnasium and changing rooms - are arranged at angles to create a fluid and differentiated public space, which is linked by a brushed concrete terrace and by an underground corridor lit by skylights. The most striking visual feature of the school is the display of changing light and colour at night, giving the buildings a playful character and drawing attention to this public space. There are nine different sequences: after a sunny autumn day, for example, the frontages are bathed in intense yellows and oranges.

 

LEVEL OF EDUCATION	Primary
NO. OF STUDENTS	336
TYPE OF PROJECT	New school and community centre
GROSS BUILDING AREA	6 042 m2
YEAR OF COMPLETION	2006
CLIENT	Communes de Bernex et Confignon
ARCHITECT	Devanthéry & Lamunière Architectes
CONTEXT	Cressy is a new residential district in the municipality of Confignon, a few kilometres from the centre of Geneva. Confignon has a population of over 4 000 inhabitants.
For more information...	x.apotheker@dl-a.ch
Photo credit: Fausto Pluchinotta photographe.

 

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Hazelwood School, Glasgow, United Kingdom-Scotland

 

The ambition of this school for children and young people with sensory impairments was to create a challenging and stimulating environment for all. Varied wall and floor surface textures and built-in navigational aids - such as trail rails, varied ceiling heights, and the print, Braille, moon and graphical signage - help children to navigate around the building independently. The school is well-equipped with gymnasium, trampoline and soft play equipment, a hydrotherapy pool with mobile hoists, art, music and cookery rooms, a library and media suite, an open plan dining and assembly area, doctor, nurse and physiotherapy rooms, outdoor music and play areas, and an outdoor sensory area.

 

LEVEL OF EDUCATION	Pre-primary to upper secondary
NO. OF STUDENTS	42
TYPE OF PROJECT	New school
GROSS BUILDING AREA	2 663 m2
YEAR OF COMPLETION	2007
CLIENT	Glasgow City Council
ARCHITECT	Gordon Murray & Alan Dunlop Architects
CONTEXT	Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and 3rd largest in the United Kingdom. The Glasgow City Council Area has a population of nearly 600 000 people.
For more information...	mail@murraydunloparchitects.com

 

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Liceo Aldea Educativa Rapa Nui, Rapa Nui (Easter Island), Chile

 

Respect for Rapa Nui culture is reflected in the design and ethos of this school: the classroom block is suggestive of the shape and arrangements of moais, the famous monolithic human figures that are set on stone platforms around the island’s coastline; the egg of the manutura bird  - the Polynesian name for the Sooty Tern, symbolic of the “cradle of wisdom” - is the focal point of the school; and the shape and position of the courtyard references ritual places on the island, including Orongo, a historic stone village and ceremonial centre on the island. One of the missions of the school is to encourage the wider participation of the community in education and to provide a meeting place outside school hours.

 

LEVEL OF EDUCATION	Lower secondary to tertiary
NO. OF STUDENTS	190
TYPE OF PROJECT	New school
GROSS BUILDING AREA	-
YEAR OF COMPLETION	2005
CLIENT	Municipality of Easter Island
ARCHITECT	Hugo Molina, Gloria Barros and Marceo Sarovi
CONTEXT	Rapa Nui (or Easter Island) (population 5 000) is a Polynesian island in the Pacific Ocean. The school is located 3 km from Hanga Rao, the main town on the island.
For more information...	masarovi@uc.cl
Photo credit: Ministry of Education, Chile

 

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Jardin de Infantes Nº 911 "Xul Solar", Barrio San José, Moreno, Argentina

 

This school benefits from the involvement of parents, as the mothers cook the children's mid-day meal. It is located in what will be a public park, and is equipped with an amphitheatre for story-telling. Here, The ceiling is lower than elsewhere and it is used for hanging mobiles and toys. A central column resembles a tree,and doubles up as a science corner. Storage space is built into the walls. The floors are tiled with ceramic and colored mirrors, which give it a magical atmosphere.

 

LEVEL OF EDUCATION	Kindergarten and pre-primary
NO. OF STUDENTS	190
TYPE OF PROJECT	New school
GROSS BUILDING AREA	387 m2
YEAR OF COMPLETION	2006
CLIENT	Government of the Province of Buenos Aires
ARCHITECT	Ana Ines Bajcura
CONTEXT	Located 36 km to the west of Buenos Aires, Moreno is a city of almost 150 000 inhabitants. It forms part of Greater Buenos Aires.
For more information...	abajcura@bajcurayasociados.com.ar
Photo credit: Daniel Casoy.

 

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Seven Fountains School, Kokstad, South Africa

 

This new school demonstrates the benefits of community involvement from the planning stage of the project. Local people were fully involved in the design and construction of the school, and now make use of the facilities outside of school hours. There is a strong sense of community ownership, with high demand for places and no theft or vandalism of the property. Many of the design elements, such as the circular buildings and thatched roofs, reflect the local architecture. There are a variety of spaces for teaching and learning. Many classrooms have mezzanine or loft areas that provide breakaway spaces for creative teaching and for project work.The final plans incorporate several features - such as sensors that measure room temperatures, light levels and energy consumption - that reduce the environmental impact of the school, which are implemented for little or no extra cost.

 

LEVEL OF EDUCATION	Pre-primary and primary
NO. OF STUDENTS	1 117
TYPE OF PROJECT	New school
GROSS BUILDING AREA	2 730 m2
YEAR OF COMPLETION	2007
CLIENT	Kwa-Zulu Natal Department of Education
ARCHITECT	East Coast Architects
CONTEXT	Kokstad is one of the fastest growing towns in the Kwa-Zulu-Natal Province in South Africa, with more than 40 000 inhabitants.
For more information...	kinsler@intekom.co.za

 

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MFA & GGZ Zeeheldenbuurt, Tilburg, Netherlands

 

This multi-functional building accommodates a primary school, a playroom for young children, community support services, a gymnasium and a health centre. In addition, there are nine residential flats as well as accommodation and facilities for people with mental health problems requiring permanent care. The school is arranged so that everyone can get where they need to go without disturbing or confining others. There is a clear distinction between the communal spaces and the areas designated for individual facilities. The flats and permanent care facilities are on the second and third floors. The community centre and the health centre occupy separate wings of the L-shaped building.The primary school is set at the building’s core. There are 13 classrooms arranged over the ground and first floors, and a gymnasium and playground at ground level. Each age group occupies its own wing. The different user groups, including the school and a branch of the Netherlands Mental Health Care Association (GGZ), were consulted extensively at the planning stage.

 

LEVEL OF EDUCATION	Pre-primary and primary
NO. OF STUDENTS	200
TYPE OF PROJECT	New community centre
GROSS BUILDING AREA	4 500 m2
YEAR OF COMPLETION	2009
CLIENT	Gemeente Tilburg & TIWOS (Tilburgse Woonstichting)
ARCHITECT	Dorte Kristensen, atelier PRO architekten bv
CONTEXT	Tilburg is a landlocked municipality and city in the Netherlands, which has more than 200 000 inhabitants.
For more information...	info@atelierpro.nl
Photo credit: Peter de Ruig.

 

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Infantário de Bicesse, Bairro Cabeço de Bicesse, Alcabideche, Portugal

 

In this spacious, airy and bright school, the well-being and psychological evolution of its young users are a priority. The design incorporates references from their imaginary world. The building was designed using pure and regular volumes and shapes, opaque or transparent, with some cylindrical skylights cutting through the ceiling. Activity and other functional rooms are arranged in three main Lego-like sections along a corridor, which symbolise the children’s progression from the protected nursery area to the kindergarten and finally to the activity room for primary students. A lawn playground includes wooden equipment, garden games and a teaching garden, and a paved recreation includes a water mirror with a slate fountain. The translucent glass administrative and service areas, located next to the corridor, are the main source of light to the interior during the day and illuminate as a huge box of light to the exterior at night.

 

LEVEL OF EDUCATION	Kindergarten and pre-primary
NO. OF STUDENTS	85
TYPE OF PROJECT	New building
GROSS BUILDING AREA	2 483 m2
YEAR OF COMPLETION	2005
CLIENT	Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Cascais
ARCHITECT	Atelier Central, Architectos lda
CONTEXT	Bicesse is a small town in Alcabideche parish (population over 30 000) in the Portuguese municipality of Cascais.
For more information...	ateliercentral@netcabo.pt
Photo credit: FG and SG Fotografia de Arquitectura