Organisation and perambulation
One of the architect’s priorities was getting around and ease of
orientation in the space. From the entrance, the clover shape structure
of the hall enables the visitor to see straight to the two playgrounds.
Once in the hall, three accesses converge from the nursery school on
the right, the primary school on the left and the recreation centre in
the front by the large stairs surrounding the elevator. The hall pierces
the entire height of the building and is lighted by overhead lighting.
Two spheres in suspension animate this great void: each sphere is
a reading space belonging to the libraries of the nursery school and
the primary school. They wanted to make a statement by positioning
“the book” at the epicentre: the suspension in the void suggesting the
elevation by knowledge.
42
Outer shell
Considering the construction’s proportions, the treatment of its facade
wasn’t easy. To avoid monotony and a fixed facade, the architects
designed a wooden cladding system with battens that changes as the
visitor goes around the building: the inferior facet of the battens is
painted orange, the superior is painted apple green and the front facets
are left rough. This way, the frontal view of the facade is completely
africandesignmagazine.com