Gymnasium Beekvliet
Gymnasium Beekvliet
MVRDV
ARCHITECTS
Mvrdv
GRAPHIC DESIGN
Ian Kirkpatrick, Maartje Berendsen
STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING
Van De Laar
MAIN CONTRACTOR
Peters Bouw En Onderhoud
BUILDING PHYSICS
Pbta
ACOUSTICS
Pbta
FOUNDING PARTNER IN CHARGE
Winy Maas
DIRECTOR
Gideon Maasland
COPYRIGHT
Mvrdv Winy Maas, Jacob Van Rijs, Nathalie De Vries
DESIGN TEAM
Gijs Rikken, Tobias Tonch, Thijs Van Oostrum, Chun Hoi Hui, Michele Tavola, Alessio Palmieri
VISUALIZATIONS
Antonio Luca Coco, Angelo La Delfa, Luana La Martina, Gianlorenzo Petrini
CO ARCHITECT
Van Boven Architecten
PROJECT COORDINATION
Ics Adviseurs
INSTALLATION ADVISOR
Becks
W INSTALLATION ADVISOR
Immens
E INSTALLATION ADVISOR
Omega
LIGHTING ADVISOR
Robert Jan Vos
COST CALCULATION
Multical
PHOTOGRAPHS
Daria Scagliola
AREA
6052 M²
YEAR
2023
LOCATION
The Netherlands
CATEGORY
Gymnasium
Text description provided by architect.
The renovation of the well-known Gymnasium Beekvliet in Sint-Michielsgestel is complete. The school has been extended so that pupils and teachers circulate past classrooms and other areas in a more logical manner, while a sky-blue auditorium forms the new heart of the school.
The façade of the extension has been enriched with a panoramic work by visual artist Ian Kirkpatrick. The murals intertwine the stories of former pupils, passers-by, and board members with images of the future.
The centuries-old Catholic categorical Gymnasium Beekvliet in Sint-Michielsgestel has a long history: starting as a seminary for priests, it served as an internment camp for politically engaged Dutchmen during the Second World War, including the first post-war Prime Minister “Wim” Schermerhorn.
In the 1970s, new premises directly across the street were acquired, and the school transformed into a new-style grammar school. In 2016, MVRDV and Van Boven Architecten won the competition to renovate the building.
The starting point was to give the secondary school a facelift and make the building contemporary again in terms of sustainability, including by extending its lifespan. At the same time, the brief was to create more space for both regular school activities and additional art and cultural facilities.
The design largely consists of renovating the existing building. This will create a challenging and stimulating learning environment for pupils and provide space for meetings and interaction. The addition of a new auditorium to the front of the building was also required.
By extending and lowering the previous roof structure, the internal circulation of the school was closed in one flowing movement, a reference to the school's “Beekvliet Stroomt” (“Beekvliet flows”) motto.
The new building houses the enlarged auditorium, complete with a tribune, kitchen, and flexible stage. The main entrance remains in the same place as before the renovation, the only difference being that it will now be situated underneath the new curving roof.
“Being allowed to renovate your old school is, of course, a huge honor,” says Winy Maas, founding partner of MVRDV. “Theobert, Gijs, and I did wonder how we could do it in such a way that the grammar school would respond to the contemporary context as well as the past. Ian's paintings help enormously with that.
I love that memories of students past and present are represented in his murals. Actually, there is a piece of everyone in the village in this building.
It really is a reflection of the whole of Sint-Michielsgestel and its surroundings. Everything comes together in a ‘compass’ in the ceiling of the new entrance hall that points to where the stories come from in the surrounding area.”
The artwork on the facade was designed in collaboration with renowned Canadian visual artist Ian Kirkpatrick.
Painted on the façade is a panoramic tableau showing memories and experiences of current and former students, teachers, and board members. It also contains references to the surroundings and Beekvliet's 200-plus-year history.
The paintings thus depict the school’s genesis and its connection to the world beyond. The iconographic illustrations give the building a contemporary look and at the same time anchor the building in its surroundings.
The position of the illustrations on the facade was determined via a computer scripting technique linking each one back to its geographical location.
