The new building for De Roosmolen Community School is situated in a small-scale residential neighbourhood and will be home to CBS Het Fundament primary school, the Camelot childcare centre and a branch of the Altena Library. The school consciously seeks to connect with the neighbourhood – both in design and layout – in order to become the heart of the community.

Careful integration into the surroundings

The new building replaces an existing school dating from the 1980s, and has been carefully integrated into its surroundings in terms of scale, layout and materials. At the same time, the building must be clearly recognisable as a school and serve as a unique, welcoming space for the neighbourhood. Therefore, the building’s appearance has been kept playful and dynamic, with three wings and a sloping roof that blends in with the neighbouring homes. Furthermore, this design allows for the integration of various types of outdoor spaces, including a play area and a learning forest, as an integral part of the building.

Children take centre stage
Atelier PRO has paid close attention to the interaction between the various users: the layout, with its three wings, naturally creates a heart for the school – a place for meeting and socialising where the school, the childcare centre and the library are intertwined. The communal spaces are distinct entities, yet they are always connected and flow seamlessly into one another. In this way, the building’s most important ‘user’ – the child – ultimately takes centre stage.

A warm, light and natural school
The new school has been designed as a natural, open and – particularly in the interior – colourful building. Warm wood and light tones set the overall scene, with accent colours used to highlight specific areas. These colours do not dominate anywhere, and the building feels like a shared home - where everyone helps one another and works together. There is plenty of natural light, views of the outside and a range of spaces for both ‘calm and quiet’ and ‘hustle and bustle’.

Sustainable and future-proof

Both in terms of design and construction, De Roosmolen maintains a clear and rational setup; we have opted for natural, sustainable materials that either have been reused or cán be reused; thus, the building not only looks attractive, but is also future-proof. Provision has also been made for a possible future extension of the lower wing.

The result is a warm, welcoming and forward-looking school which, thanks in part to its careful integration into the surroundings, will become the vibrant heart of the neighbourhood!