Kindercampus Zuidas forms the educational heart of Ravel, a new mixed-use neighbourhood taking shape in Amsterdam Zuidas. Positioned on a traffic-calmed square along the Boelegracht and surrounded by a green, car-free public realm, the school is conceived as more than a standalone educational building. Architecture, landscape and learning environments are brought together to create a place that encourages children to explore, meet and learn both inside and outside the classroom.
The campus accommodates a primary school for 520 pupils, comprising 2,830 m² of educational space, alongside a 552 m² gymnasium and 410 m² of after-school childcare. Its spatial organisation is based on development-oriented learning (OGO), an educational approach in which interaction, curiosity and discovery play a central role.
A School Connected to the Neighbourhood
The building responds directly to its position within the new neighbourhood. A generous main entrance establishes a clear relationship between the school, the public square and the childcare facilities, while separate entrances allow the different functions to operate independently.
The youngest pupils are located on the ground floor, with direct access to their own green play areas and the Boelegracht. Older pupils occupy the first and second floors and use the neighbourhood square as an extension of their outdoor learning and play environment.
At the heart of the building is a multifunctional auditorium that gives the school a strong communal character. Flexible spaces around it can accommodate music lessons, performances and exhibitions, allowing different educational activities to overlap rather than remain confined to conventional classrooms. The gymnasium and childcare facilities are distributed across three levels, while an atelier at the top of the building opens directly onto the rooftop garden.
The Landscape Continues onto the Roof
The roofscape is an integral part of the architectural concept. Rather than treating outdoor space as something that ends at the building line, the landscape continues vertically through terraces, stepped seating and green roofs.
From the entrance, a route leads upwards through the building towards the green atelier, passing a sequence of terraces and informal places for meeting and interaction. At roof level, gardening, outdoor lessons and nature education become part of the everyday school environment.
Outside, different landscapes respond to different age groups and ways of learning. An adventurous playground encourages exploration, while the youngest children have access to a more intimate green play area. Together with the rooftop garden and neighbourhood square, these spaces create a varied learning landscape extending throughout and around the building.
Robust Architecture, Flexible Interior
A sculptural façade of sand-coloured brick gives Kindercampus Zuidas a warm and playful identity within the emerging Ravel neighbourhood. Its robust material expression is softened by planted roofs, terraces and greenery integrated into the building.
Inside, the architecture deliberately provides a calm backdrop for school life. Light colours and natural materials create a neutral environment that can be appropriated by the children through their work and activities.
Flexibility is embedded in the structural concept. A column-based structure allows the internal organisation to change over time, enabling the building to respond to evolving educational models and future spatial requirements rather than being fixed around a single way of teaching.
Climate-Resilient by Design
Climate adaptation is integrated into both the architecture and landscape. A compact and highly insulated building envelope reduces energy demand, while demand-controlled systems, air-source heat pumps and photovoltaic panels contribute to the project's energy performance. The design was developed in line with the municipality's ambition for energy-neutral buildings and the applicable EPC/BENG requirements.
Water management is made visible rather than hidden underground. The campus is designed to accommodate rainfall events of up to 60 mm per hour, with the playground acting as part of the water-management system. Visible channels collect and guide rainwater through the green schoolyard and alongside the façade, turning climate adaptation into an element children can experience and observe.
Large trees provide shade and shelter during warmer periods, while vegetated roofs and façades contribute to water retention and biodiversity. In this way, the landscape performs simultaneously as playground, outdoor classroom and climate infrastructure.
A Building That Can Grow with Its Users
Kindercampus Zuidas brings together education, childcare, sport and outdoor learning within a building conceived to change over time. Its adaptable structure provides long-term spatial flexibility, while the interconnected landscape introduces nature, biodiversity and water management into children's everyday experience.
Rather than separating architecture, education and sustainability into individual systems, the project brings them together as one learning environment. The result is a school that becomes part of the emerging Ravel neighbourhood while giving its pupils a building they can explore, inhabit and make their own.
