St Bavo primary school

Education

Vertical school extension with five classrooms and a playground within a densely built-up urban fabric.

Status

completed - 2019

Location

Ghent

Surface

987 m²

Client

VZW Basisschool Sint Bavo

Team

Katrien Houben, Paula Mestre, Hans Van Bever, Goedele Van Hoecke

Press

VRT - HLN

The design arose from the demand for a capacity expansion for a school with 80 pupils.

The expansion with classrooms involved additional sanitary facilities and also an expansion of the playground. We found the creative solution of providing not only the new classrooms but also the playground on the roof of the existing school building. We conceived the extension as parasitic architecture that adds a colourful accent to the streetscape. The new structure had to be designed as light as possible, as it was built on top of an existing building. Together with the stability engineer, we opted for timber-frame construction.

A few years later, we also carried out comprehensive renovation and extension works at St Bavo high school.

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