Educational building combined with cultural uses.

NTUA

Project idea

In the public neighborhoods of Greece, the school is not only an educational place for children but for the whole local society. Therefore instead of inserting only the typical use of the elementary school, we intend to provide semi-public spaces, and therefore open for the audience only and after the school program is over. There is a theater, a swimming pool and a small gym open for the neighbors to use and enjoy after the ring bell announces the end of a school day. More over, the area of Kifissia has low density and the height of the buildings is no more than 3-4 levels. Therefore we don want to be higher than this limit. Finally we intend to keep as much as possible of the green space there is in order for the school to work like a park for the area.

Project description

The main idea is a big yard in a shape of an ellipse which can connect the two corners of the field. This shape provides the creation of 4 entrances through its main axes. We select to use the 3 of them based on the examination of the area which was ahead of the concept. We have 3 different volumes that encircle the ellipse and extend its geometry. The one in the north consists of 2 floors. In the street level there are the classes of the younger children, a&b&c grade. The corridor is behind the classrooms combined with some glazed laboratories. Th classrooms are not typical and are not designed to have typical class furniture. We have imagined more free way of teaching with desks that can shape different forms. Moreover they expand directly to the yard, and towards the inner corridor there are some recesses in order for the students to gather before or after class. Finally every 2 classrooms of the same grade share a roofed small yard for open lessons. In the second floor with the same structure the students of c&d&e grade are hosted.
In the building of the east there is in the ground floor the offices of the teachers, headmaster etc, and in the second floor some laboratories, the main library which can be morphologicaly obvious from outside and can work after school also open to the public, as long as the PC labs that are hosted also there. The library has bigger height and double floor.
Finally in the volume of the south we can find the swimming pool and the theater under a park. The main idea was a part of the ground to raise and not lose its continuity with he ground floor.

Technical information

The swimming pool is semi roofed and semi open inviting the passenger to explore the building. This is one of the most beautiful entrances in the field as the difference of the heights among the entrance level and and the levels next to it, gives you the impression of being on a bridge.
We try to use bio climatic characteristics of the area, therefore we put the main classrooms in a directions of north-south. Better light, better protection. We put solar shelf as indicated in the sections.
Finally as about the materials. For the main structure we use reinforced concrete because of the intense earthquakes of the area. Yellow plaster for the facade, where to indicate a laboratory or the library. White plaster for nude uses. Glass. And green color for the main structural walls that morfologically are obvious from the yard mainly.

Co-authors

Georgia Soultana
Ninou Aikaterini