Atelier Starzak Strebicki

Design of primary school extension

The goal of this project was elevating the standard of the existing school complex and adding a new segment with a cantine and an athletic playground. The entire school campus is therefore complemented functionally and ready to welcome new students.

The new segment is placed in the background, leaving the front for the open, spacious entrance zone (an extension of the school courtyard), a new playground and a row of tall trees. The trees are important not only for dividing the courtyard from the playground, but they also naturally shade the southern façade. The extended, covered gateway is a part of the fence and a parking space for bikes. In front of it we design a square with a fountain, new trees and seating areas. It completes the existing network of pathways and forms a buffer zone between the school and the rest of the city.

The layout of the new building, pushed into a slope, is divided into half-floors. Thanks to this each level has access to the outdoors which allows to design without fire staircases. Such a solution makes it easier to join the two school buildings and to optically connect the classrooms. The ground floor with a cantine is visually connected to the courtyard and trees, among which the pupils can eat, rest or play on warmer days. The technical zone and cloakrooms are placed in the part of the ground floor which is pushed into the slope. The upper floors are connected to the playground and school garden. The first floor, directly connected to the existing building, houses the administrative functions, classrooms and specialized didactic rooms. The top floor is reserved for regular classrooms with access to the terrace suited for school activities and the garden. The classrooms are grouped into clusters which allows formation of smaller shared spaces for joined classes or spending breaks together. The vertical open communication space in the center of the new building allows free and natural flow of air.

In this project, the architecture creates scenes and views which accompany the pupils while they grow and learn. The interior of the school is interlocked with the outside which becomes a substantial part of the classes and breaks.