Community School, Netherlands

Interior.

Words from the architect

A primary school should make a joyous use of space; this spatial aspect of architecture has been utilized to create an adventurous route with exciting vistas. The movement of light plays an important role.

Interior.

A Community School (in Dutch 'brede school', literally 'broad school') for a housing development near Amsterdam. The design had to satisfy various users: the Protestant primary school the 'Braambos' (the Burning Bush), the playgroup, the after-school childcare and the Municipal Department for Sport and Recreation. The point of departure was to give the various age groups (children from three months to twelve years and also adults and teenagers) a functional and harmonious building.

Interior.

The building in which the community-support functions are incorporated stands in a park-like strip of land at the edge of the housing development. It has been built as a free-standing building. In spite of having three different user groups, the outside forms a whole.

Plan ground floor.

The playgrounds are situated around the school and are bordered by red beech hedges and metal fencing with lockable gates. The toddlers have their own intimate, outside area. Sandpits, wooden play areas, trees and borders subdivide the areas into smaller units.

Plan first floor.

Stairways and sloping paths join various levels, which make it possible to move through the building in different ways. The playgroups are at ground level directly next to the playground. On the first floor, the classrooms (the big world) are farther away from the earth's surface. The oldest children are in classrooms on the floor where the route ends in the assembly hall. This looks out over the area where the school is situated.

Credits

• Text: Roelien Plaatsman
• Photographs: Scagliola-Brakkee

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