Form follows trees.
The old school pavilions on this beautiful green site on the outskirts of Brussels were in urgent need of replacement. Additionally the municipality wishes to add a refectory, a sports hall and some rooms for after-school care. We impose some additional constraints on ourselves: all existing trees on the site must remain, and the existing school buildings should remain in use during the construction works.
The plan of the new building is an offset of the doughnut-shaped double row of linden trees. The trees offer privacy, security, shade and views. The building enhances direct interactions with its surroundings, creating different relations and perspectives in an infinite loop of discovery.
The program of the nursery school and the holiday care are divided in two separate buildings. The binding element for both is an organic shaped canopy which emphasizes the entrance of the school and provides covered playground where necessary.
Team:
Architects: TV Team Begijnenborre (Carton123 architecten, atelier Starzak Strebicki and Natural Born Architects)
Design Team: Bartosz Bisaga, Jens De Schutter, Joanna Lewańska, Dominika Lis, Joost Raes, Luis Gómez Soriano, Jola Starzak, Miguel Steel Lebre, Dawid Strębicki, Els Van Meerbeek, Jordy Van Osselaer
Technical Engineering: EDV
Structural Engineer: Lambda-max
Landscape Design: Atelier Arne Deruyter
Photographer: Stijn Bollaert
Materials used:
Facade cladding: brick M, Vandemoortel
Flooring: Rubber flooring, unita, Noraplan
Doors: Anodised aluminium, Reynaers
Windows: Anodised aluminium, Reynaers
Interior lighting: Zumtobel
