Competition 2014
ANALYSIS OF THE CURRENT SITUATION: At the end of the 1950s, the school was built on a hillside location, sheltered from the wind, away from the city centre and opening up towards the natural landscape.
Praschma and Morgenroth's project was able to take advantage of this privileged location with intelligence and empathy by creating individual pavilions of graceful architecture on a hillside overlooking the landscape. On one side the accommodation and the kindergarten, on the other side the school rooms, the assembly hall and the sports hall; in the centre the chapel. The volume and the integration of each element create a visual and proportionally harmonious relationship between the buildings, which may be considered an essential part of the project, as well as the open spaces inside that are formed in between.
Despite several renovations, which have not always been happy, the school has preserved many of its original values, which we believe should be saved and preserved. These are undoubtedly the school's landmarks, which, after several generations of students, give the school its own identity. It will therefore suffice to solve the problems of accessibility (freedom from barriers) and sustainability, which were not considered so important at the time.
On the other hand, the school environment has undergone significant changes over these years. The natural landscape has been replaced by an urban landscape with tall residential buildings. The new Avenida Galíndez has been designed under the effective dictates of the straight line, both in its layout and cross-section: It cut through the winding streets and its level rose above the former slope, creating a strange embankment at the entrance to the school.
The relationship between the school and the new town opposite must be redefined. The architecture of the new buildings necessary for the extension of the school offers the opportunity to rethink this border area, so that it can adapt to the new urban situation and at the same time traffic and access aspects can be solved in a new way.
PROPOSED IDEA: Two buildings on either side of the entrance, connected by a large roofed atrium, which create a new urban façade and create a large space as a reception/meeting point and venue.
General aspects and structure
-The two new buildings take over the direction and orientation of the structure of the original project and create a natural and orderly relationship with the existing buildings. The horizontal body of the gymnasium finds its counterpoint in the more vertical body of the building intended for the primary school area and the assembly hall, which is diagonally opposite the highest building (current building 5), which crowns the school complex.
-The forecourt is a covered meeting and waiting room: the large entrance hall of the school area. It connects the two new buildings and defines the new border parallel to the avenue.
These three elements form a new façade with a more urban look that simultaneously separates and connects:
-It encloses and protects the former garden, open to the landscape, which is now transformed into a Hortus Conclusus, from a now more aggressive external environment.
-It is a unifying hinge between the school and the city, a forum or agora formed by the forecourt, which can accommodate a wide range of activities, and the two most public areas of the school (gymnasium and assembly hall).
Atrium
It is a covered square or pedestrian area that can be arranged with sporadic access by visitors' vehicles or school buses.
In a rainy city like Bilbao, it provides an effective shelter for waiting, organising school groups or excursions, or for people to stay after the events organised in the sports hall or assembly hall. It can also be used for a wide range of activities: games, school competitions, festivals, open air events, parties, meetings, flea markets, gastronomic events, etc.
This "canopy" made of lightweight concrete on metal columns also protects against the sun and excessive sunlight on the sports hall windows. The position and size of the skylights will be studied and adjusted to provide good natural lighting, which will give the atrium the light dynamics of the sun's course.
Images and text from: Tabuenca Y Leache Architectos
ANALYSIS OF THE CURRENT SITUATION: At the end of the 1950s, the school was built on a hillside location, sheltered from the wind, away from the city centre and opening up towards the natural landscape.
Praschma and Morgenroth's project was able to take advantage of this privileged location with intelligence and empathy by creating individual pavilions of graceful architecture on a hillside overlooking the landscape. On one side the accommodation and the kindergarten, on the other side the school rooms, the assembly hall and the sports hall; in the centre the chapel. The volume and the integration of each element create a visual and proportionally harmonious relationship between the buildings, which may be considered an essential part of the project, as well as the open spaces inside that are formed in between.
Despite several renovations, which have not always been happy, the school has preserved many of its original values, which we believe should be saved and preserved. These are undoubtedly the school's landmarks, which, after several generations of students, give the school its own identity. It will therefore suffice to solve the problems of accessibility (freedom from barriers) and sustainability, which were not considered so important at the time.
On the other hand, the school environment has undergone significant changes over these years. The natural landscape has been replaced by an urban landscape with tall residential buildings. The new Avenida Galíndez has been designed under the effective dictates of the straight line, both in its layout and cross-section: It cut through the winding streets and its level rose above the former slope, creating a strange embankment at the entrance to the school.
The relationship between the school and the new town opposite must be redefined. The architecture of the new buildings necessary for the extension of the school offers the opportunity to rethink this border area, so that it can adapt to the new urban situation and at the same time traffic and access aspects can be solved in a new way.
PROPOSED IDEA: Two buildings on either side of the entrance, connected by a large roofed atrium, which create a new urban façade and create a large space as a reception/meeting point and venue.
General aspects and structure
-The two new buildings take over the direction and orientation of the structure of the original project and create a natural and orderly relationship with the existing buildings. The horizontal body of the gymnasium finds its counterpoint in the more vertical body of the building intended for the primary school area and the assembly hall, which is diagonally opposite the highest building (current building 5), which crowns the school complex.
-The forecourt is a covered meeting and waiting room: the large entrance hall of the school area. It connects the two new buildings and defines the new border parallel to the avenue.
These three elements form a new façade with a more urban look that simultaneously separates and connects:
-It encloses and protects the former garden, open to the landscape, which is now transformed into a Hortus Conclusus, from a now more aggressive external environment.
-It is a unifying hinge between the school and the city, a forum or agora formed by the forecourt, which can accommodate a wide range of activities, and the two most public areas of the school (gymnasium and assembly hall).
Atrium
It is a covered square or pedestrian area that can be arranged with sporadic access by visitors' vehicles or school buses.
In a rainy city like Bilbao, it provides an effective shelter for waiting, organising school groups or excursions, or for people to stay after the events organised in the sports hall or assembly hall. It can also be used for a wide range of activities: games, school competitions, festivals, open air events, parties, meetings, flea markets, gastronomic events, etc.
This "canopy" made of lightweight concrete on metal columns also protects against the sun and excessive sunlight on the sports hall windows. The position and size of the skylights will be studied and adjusted to provide good natural lighting, which will give the atrium the light dynamics of the sun's course.
Images and text from: Tabuenca Y Leache Architectos