AUX . photos: © Johnny Umans
The project site is located in the city center of Aalst, Belgium. A large high school comprises the complete inner space of a square urban block, hidden away from the public space. Only a few buildings aligned at the streets around this block give access to the inner area.
The schools’ design assignment was twofold:
1st One of the buildings along the streets gives access to the flow of students entering and leaving the school daily, by foot or by bike. A long interior corridor leads up to the cluster of playgrounds within the urban block. From the outside there was a lack of visual accessibility. The old gate did not stand out nor did it radiate a welcoming feeling. The inside hallway was dark and gloomy. An alteration of the exterior façade and an internal renovation was much needed.
In the concept of the design, the interior corridor connecting the public area with the courtyards of the school is perceived as an outside ‘street’. When de school gate is opened, this ‘street’ acts as a visual continuation of the real outside traffic network.
The new gate is repositioned, recessed from the street, creating ‘street corners’ and a sheltering canopy. The existing cornerstones are prolonged with concrete precast elements in the same profiling. When opened, the large pivoting door fades out the inside/outside border, acting as a loose standing element in the new street. Whereas the right wing of the old gate covered the first meters of the inside wall, the new vacant space is filled in with a new reception desk. Even when closed off, the school entrance still has a feel of openness and transparency thanks to the floor-ceiling side window. The white steel gate has a subtle punch pattern in the form of a cane, symbolizing the well-known requisite of the schools’ patron
The new connecting street is paved with typical Belgian concrete square tiles that are usually used for sidewalks. Grey stones for the pedestrians, a grey and red tiled pattern for the students that come by bike and go to the underground bicycle storage through the slope.
The plasterwork was removed from the heavy ceiling beams, adding some rough textures to the street. The two weighty columns are covered with mirrors, making them visually disappear and opening up the space. The bicycle slope is indicated by an array of pendant lights and a freestanding banister painted red, the theme color of the school.
2nd The school was in need for a multi-purpose ‘learning center’ and additional flexible classrooms. To realize this new program, the current library and reading room and refectory could be used. The refectory-function still had to be possible, the library and reading room were not in use anymore. These three rooms had lots of potential: spacious, high ceilings and a lot of natural daylight.
To start with a full open-plan space, the two dividing brick walls are being demolished and new flexible divisions are put in place. The former adjacent corridor served as a storage room is being opened again. New door openings allow access to the different rooms when divided.
At the end of the total volume, a glass wall defines the remainder part of the reading room acoustically. The new corridor allows internal access to the spaces. Even though the space has a small footprint compared to the height of the ceiling, it remains its spaciousness thanks to the transparency of the wall.
In the center of the room, a box-like structure is installed, allowing divisions into 1, 2 or 3 sections, by opening or closing the acoustic folding walls. Thus, creating a flexible structure, allowing different programs: a refectory that covers the complete area, two co-teaching rooms, a cluster of different classrooms etc. The glazing in the upper parts of the box allows light and spaciousness to the different compartments when separated.
The box structure itself segments the large volume visually and adds a human scale. Besides compartmentalizing into different rooms, the glass and steel box also serves as an auditorium, theatre room for school plays, music plays, school parties. The red of the folding walls inside the structure refers to the typical stage curtain and matches the schools’ theme color.
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