IT
The design of an expansion for the school complex stems from the call for tenders announced by the institute itself and addressed to a limited number of guests, in which NOS Design was called to participate in collaboration with the studios EA3 engineers architects and B4 architects. Our work starts from a reflection on the conformation of the project site, the green courtyard adjacent to the school, which has failed to maintain its vocation as an enclosed relational space, characterizing the original compositional concept of the school itself, as per the traditional design of British gardens. The concentration of meeting points in the north-central part and the lack of activity in other parts, inspired the challenge for a new approach: to develop the existing schoolyard as a contemporary creative environment, both metaphorically and practically, conforming this area as an alternation of closed spaces and open spaces that follow one another and merge with each other, in a commensurate game between squares, meeting rooms and focal points. The Campus Open Learning is a project of spaces for learning, aimed at overcoming the traditional contrast between teaching and service spaces: the corridors dilate, giving life to informal places of study for the community. Starting from the L-shaped school, the environments and the functions connected to them become a hybrid between public and semi-public, hosting mixed activities: the main hall of the auditorium, the teachers’ room and the service spaces on the upper floor for teachers, students and visitors. The auditorium, with its multifaceted volume and formally preponderant spatiality, has the character of a new contemporary icon of the school complex. The interior, thanks to the presence of areas with natural light and acoustic control systems, offers an emotional and atmospheric space. The skylight system on the roof makes it possible to modulate natural light, thus also optimizing the use of artificial light. The new longitudinal gallery is a connecting path and an exhibition space at the same time: a place where art and culture are produced and preserved. This environment represents the link between existing and new spaces of the school and is characterized by both horizontal and vertical connectivity, resulting in fluid spaces, in which students, teachers and visitors can walk on various levels.
