Leça do Balio School

Leça do Balio School
© Daniel Malhão

Leça do Balio School

ANC Arquitectos

ARCHITECTS
Anc Arquitectos

CLIENT
Câmara Municipal De Matosinhos

ENERGY EFFICIENCY
Miguel Nery

MECHANICAL
Get

ELECTRICAL
Gpic

CONTRACTOR
Norasil

PARTNER IN CHARGE
Teresa NovaisVV

PROJECT LEADER
Luísa Meneses

DESIGN TEAM
João Pedro Fernandes, Pedro Loureiro, Ana Bacelar

LANDSCAPE
Victor Beiramar Diniz

PHOTOGRAPHS
Daniel Malhão, Jorge Carvalho

AREA
2736 M²

YEAR
2013

LOCATION
Portugal

CATEGORY
Kindergarten, Schools

Text description provided by architect.

School for 200 children of the 1st cycle of basic education and 40 children of kindergarten in Leça do Balio

Leça do Balio School
© Jorge Carvalho
Leça do Balio School
© Daniel Malhão

DESIGNING FOR THE CITY

Located next to a existing school for the 2nd and 3rd cycles of basic education, the new building, by the street, forms the entrance for both schools.

A ramp leads to the existing school and organizes the outdoors movements of pupils in 2nd and 3rd cycles, while two parallel blocks, whose dimensions are defined by the existing school, follow the slope and design playgrounds at different levels and of different kinds.

Leça do Balio School
© Daniel Malhão
Leça do Balio School
© Daniel Malhão

The porches, the entrance ramp, the connection block and the exterior stairs, interweave the built fabric with the outdoor spaces.

MODULATING THE SPACES WITH NATURAL LIGHT

Adapting the building to the slope is accentuated by altimetry indentations in each block, which create two floor-to-ceiling heights: a lower one for the classrooms and a higher one for common facilities such as the cafeteria, gym and library.

In the classrooms, oriented to the north, the neutral atmosphere becomes intimate with their low windows overlooking the landscape.

Leça do Balio School
© Daniel Malhão
Leça do Balio School
© Daniel Malhão

In the common areas, washed by southern quadrant daylight and in continuity with the playgrounds, the wide space is deliberately made warm.

Countless skylights complete the indented effect in the roof and punctuate the classrooms and their support spaces with southern quadrant daylight, and the circulation and service spaces with eastern quadrant daylight.

Leça do Balio School
© Jorge Carvalho
Leça do Balio School
© Daniel Malhão

This spatial modulation, by means of the light, re-designs the conventional matrix "school with corridor in the middle", with a repetitive prosody, which is accentuated by the use of openings with always the same dimension.

CREATING A SPACE FOR UNDEFINED USE

In contrast, the central space that houses the entrance and connects the two inner levels, allows, by the generosity of its dimensions, undefined uses.

Leça do Balio School
© Daniel Malhão
Leça do Balio School
Floor Plan

Outside, this connection block expresses its ambiguity: sometimes identifies itself with the entrance ramp, now extends the covered playground. Here, the openings are appropriate to each face.

CONVEYING AVAILABILITY

Surfaces with 'stony' connotations, such as the concrete with several textures and colours and the aggregated sand, seasoned by surfaces with organic connotations, such as the wood and the cork, reinforce the familiar identity of the building, solid, safe, available and open-faced to all experiences.

Leça do Balio School
Plans


Leça do Balio School
Axonometric
Leça do Balio School
Details


Leça do Balio School
Elevation
Leça do Balio School
Elevation
Leça do Balio School
Section