School Extension In Antwerp
SCHOOL EXTENSION IN ANTWERP
Areal Architecten
ARCHITECTS
Areal Architecten
TECHNICAL STUDIES
Gebotec bvba
ENGINEERING
ABT België nv
PHOTOGRAPHS
Thomas de Bruyne
AREA
2450.0 m²
YEAR
2012
LOCATION
Hasselt, Belgium
CATEGORY
Schools
Text description provided by architect.
Like the existing school (a modernist volume from the 50’s) embraces the main playground, the extension is positioned in a way that areas of security arise in its inner corners.
The new volume integrates the pragmatic logic of the school campus, but not without creating some witty and special interventions adding functional value.
The school is designed as a robust rectangular volume, an orthogonal stacking of classes, with excavations made with extreme precision.
Facing the street a covered outdoor area is inserted that accentuates the main entrance and through the middle of the building an atrium opens up visibility from the playground to the wide green west of the building.
The latter is complimented with a central void that unifies each level and seeds abundant natural light. Through these interventions a public space is created inside the school building, with vistas and social control that a real school community assume.
