School in Sant Cugat

An innovative school for an innovative pedagogy

Sant Cugat, Barcelona, Spain

An innovative school for an innovative pedagogy

The client of this school project is a foundation whose aim is to create a school with an innovative pedagogy, conceived as an twenty-first century evolution of the progressive models of the twentieth century (Montessori, etc.). The aim of the project is to provide adequate spaces for this innovative pedagogy. This implies rethinking the typical spaces of a school, which broadly means that in this school all space is a learning space, that there are no single-purpose spaces unused most of the time, and, at the same time, each space is adequately equipped for the range of activities it will accommodate, providing a well-functioning polyvalence.

A compact volume in order to release the maximum outdoors playground area

The limited surface of the plot does not allow the school to be developed on a single level, and, therefore, a multi-story volume is proposed. Located at the northern area of the site, this compact, vertical volume, six storeys high, enables to free up as much space as possible in order to provide the largest possible south-facing playground.

A vertical school organized around a bioclimatic agora

It is, therefore, a vertical school model, organized around an agora, the heart of the school; a bioclimatic space, a large greenhouse within which all circulations take place. This space is shared by the whole school, and is multifunctional: on the ground floor there is the agora-café (a bar-restaurant for the whole school and the Primary School canteen) as well as a versatile space for events with an informal stage and steps to sit on. A ramp goes up through the agora connecting the different levels until it reaches the roof of the building, where sports fields, playgrounds and orchards are located.

The agora has a full-height glazed facade that opens onto a large outdoor terrace on the ground floor, in continuity with the café-restaurant. The lounges are horizontal circulation spaces on each level which, due to their generous width, also become streets -multifunctional spaces for more informal learning, avoiding the usual situation where circulation spaces are only used for circulation, and, therefore, are not in use most of the time.

Stacked lofts connected by a ramp

From a spatial point of view, the school is a stack of double-height lofts that are colonized with mezzanines with diverse layouts and functions according to the educational stage. The "ground floors" of these double-height stacked lofts are connected by the ramp.

Adjacent to the learning spaces, the lounges are large balconies open to the agora that also serve as a library, learning, meeting and informal eating spaces. Thus, the library and the canteen are elements of the functional program that are decentralized in order to incorporate them into the learning dynamics and circulations, thus avoiding the usual situation of isolation and lack of use for most of the day.

In a vertical school, the proposed ramp allows the comfortable movement, accompanied or autonomous, of the school's students between the different floors, for all ages. The three volumes that surround the large atrium of the bioclimatic agora correspond to the three educational stages of the school: in the south-west, kindergarten and elementary school; in the north-west, primary school, and in the north-east, secondary education school.

Passive and biophilic sustainability

Sustainability measures in terms of climate comfort are based on the use of passive systems; that is to say, they do not require -or minimize- the use of mechanical systems. The agora acts as a multifunctional buffer space, with a climate between the outside and the thermally controlled interiors of the different learning spaces with more specific functions. The agora is also a biophilic space: a large inner garden/courtyard with native species and also other species suitable for greenhouses.

The facades open to the landscape and the courtyards through abundant glazing which is protected by blinds with adjustable slats that allow optimal solar and light control, much needed in a school. The facades are also green, with stainless steel mesh panels colonized by climbing plants.

In the courtyards on the ground floor and the roofs of the building there is also a predominance of green and biophilia. In this way, the dominance of sports like soccer in the playgrounds is avoided and innovative pedagogical gardens are introduced, for example: a garden to explain the dynamics of the landscape, a garden for cleaning the school's waste water and a garden for biodiversity and weeds, with plants that grow spontaneously and the generate a biodiversity that balances the cultivated garden and the orchards.

Project name

School in Sant Cugat

Project location

Sant Cugat del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain

Client

Private foundation

Year

2023

Status

Project

Program

Educational

School from kindergarten to secondary education.

Gross built area: 9412m2

Author

Eduard Balcells Architecture+Urbanism+Landscape

Collaborators

Design development

Ana Irisarri, Mauricio Lorenzo, Elisa Vegué, architects

Climate and mechanical engineering

OTG3

Visualizations

Graph