LEARNING AS AN UPWARD LANDSCAPE
Studio A SENSE OF_ teamed up with AHH on a tender for Blok 3 in Merwede Utrecht, to design the X11 school for media, design, and technology.
“The programme, which had to be spread over seven floors, shouldn’t feel like a stacked building. It should feel like an inspiring route.” This became our starting point.
We designed the school as an upward landscape. From the public Stadsnis at street level, the route leads into a valley in the heart of the school. Passing by the different labs along the voids, it ends at an elevated schoolyard on top of the sports hall. Learning, meeting and moving are woven together.
Outside, the layered brick facade fits the urban context with playful openings in a grid. Inside, the school opens onto a softer world with a graphic colour palette. The curved facade of the courtyard invites people to stay, to interact or to withdraw. This is where the school can be a diverse community. A school as a small city, that expresses itself by the users.
Visible timber and demountable materials act as a framework in where spaces can be created by the students themselves to create more ownership.
Unfortunately, we did not win but we had a lot of fun exploring the spatial concept!
X11 - Merwede Utrecht
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