TYPE: | CLASSROOMS |
SIZE: | 275 M² |
LOCATION: | NAYON, ECUADOR |
TEAM: | GABRIELA ANKER, AARON LEPPANEN, GABRIELA VALDEZ, GABRIELA AREVALO, CAROLINA RODRIGUEZ, BELEN ACURIO |
YEAR: | 2018 |
STATUS: | COMPLETED |
Liceo Campoverde is a school located in a valley near the capital. Their main objective is to promote sustainability through educational and constructive methods. Leppanen Anker was commissioned to develop a master plan for the expansion of the school which includes a library, cafeteria, auditorium, block for high school, and several outdoor areas. The client had a great interest to preserve the green areas and to respect the topography, which was iconic of the school. The primary concept of the master plan was to create an “educational park” that allows the creation of learning environments.
We saw architecture as a mechanism for environmental transformation, which adapts to different conditions that the environment provides: climate, topography, program, user and growth. “BLOCK A” includes the first built stage of the master plan, which will be part of the highschool section for the future.
The building is composed of three classrooms, a meeting room, storage areas, a terrace for outdoor activities and an open square, intended to be the heart of the school. The project adapts to the environment through its insertion into the topography, it has a direct connection at the ground floor level with the plaza and at the top floor level with the green areas. The project sees the environment as an integral element of the educational experience through learning “above” and “within” the environment. That is why the existing circulation system of the school, through ramps, and the way they relate to the topography formed the most determining factors at the time of design. We were interested in reinforcing the condition of passing “through” and “under” the building, so the external circulations of the project is the integrating element.
BLOCK A is made up of two volumes that are divided, and in turn, articulated by a bridge on the second level. Simple geometric shapes were used that allowed integrating the already built architecture, with alterations that respond to its predominant natural environment. We sought to generate a tension between volumes through materiality, texture and void, always relating it to its surroundings.