Primary school ZP

Client: GO! Gemeenschapsonderwijs
Location: Sint-Agatha-Berchem
Realization: 2003 – 2011
Design team: David Driesen, Tom Verschueren, Hans Verbessem, Sacha Bratkowsky, Michaël De Roeck
Structural engineer: SMB
Engineer Techniques: Vitech
Photography: Exterior: Serge Brison, Interior: Frederik Vercruysse
Size: 1350 m²
Publications


The design of primary school Zavelput is the result of an architectural competition in 2003. dmvA was assigned to design 6 classrooms and a polyvalent room for the primary school Zavelput in Sint-Agatha-Berchem, Brussels. Due to the increased number of students, the school was struggling with lack of space. The result is a low energy compact building constructed in concrete and concrete blocks are used as thermally inert materials.

The complexity of the place, the limited openness to the street and a Dutch-speaking school in a French-speaking surrounding led to a difficult but flexible process from design to the start of building. Throughout the process, the design was limited by the strict demands of the financial norm for building schools. In close cooperation with the employees of the GO (Education of the Flemish Community), it was always ensured that the budget of the design stayed within this norm. During the dossier preparation and the execution some extra things were requested, like the kitchen and parking, so the tender price was slightly exceeded.

The school is situated at an important site at an urban level. The front is located in an urban fabric of streets with ribbon development. The school area itself is situated on large green area at the backside.  The site is characterized by large differences in levels, ascending from the street to the back of the site. The open structure of the plot was therefore a gaping wound in the urban fabric.

The building is interpreted as a fusion of two typologies: at the street side, the three layers of the building are a continuation and closure of the existing ribbon development; at the back, the elongated, two-story building is to an extent sunk into the ground and thus refers to the existing pavilions on the site. Together with the boundary between the building typologies, the boundary between city and nature blurs too: between the new building and the existing pavilion an inner street enters the school grounds. A big slide gate closes off the inner street, while the main building can be separately accessed after school hours.

The duality between the stringent urbanity and frivolity of the pavilions, thrown into the landscape, is one of structure and chaos, hard and soft, knowledge and creativity, work and relaxation, study and games… It’s an important educational assignment to teach children how to handle this duality. This duality is reflected in the design and materiality of the building. The brick shell is made of seven different bricks and masonry. The playful effect of the patchwork breaks through the relatively monotonous volume of the school.

The school is situated at an important site at an urban level. The front is located in an urban fabric of streets with ribbon development. The school area itself is situated on large green area at the backside.  The site is characterized by large differences in levels, ascending from the street to the back of the site. The open structure of the plot was therefore a gaping wound in the urban fabric.

The building is interpreted as a fusion of two typologies: at the street side, the three layers of the building are a continuation and closure of the existing ribbon development; at the back, the elongated, two-story building is to an extent sunk into the ground and thus refers to the existing pavilions on the site. Together with the boundary between the building typologies, the boundary between city and nature blurs too: between the new building and the existing pavilion an inner street enters the school grounds. A big slide gate closes off the inner street, while the main building can be separately accessed after school hours.

The duality between the stringent urbanity and frivolity of the pavilions, thrown into the landscape, is one of structure and chaos, hard and soft, knowledge and creativity, work and relaxation, study and games… It’s an important educational assignment to teach children how to handle this duality. This duality is reflected in the design and materiality of the building. The brick shell is made of seven different bricks and masonry. The playful effect of the patchwork breaks through the relatively monotonous volume of the school.