Coelacanth K&H Architects

A compact high-rise school building and local scenery

This junior high school is planned on the former Takinogawa Seventh Elementary School site, as part of Kita Ward's appropriate school placement plan. The site is located in an area that still retains the atmosphere of what was called literary village “Tabata Bunshimura”, the name of the area where many writers and artist gathered, in the early 1900s. On the north side, there is a large retaining wall that arises from the topography, and together with the adjacent temples and shrines, a valuable open space in this area is formed. This school is required to have a gymnasium, a swimming pool, regular classrooms (12 classes), disaster prevention base functions, etc. on a narrow, deformed site of about 7,200 ㎡ in residential areas. The deformed artificial turf field is integrated with open spaces such as adjacent Dairyu-ji temple and Hachiman shrine, leading to the preservation of the local atmosphere and memories. The school site adjacent to the road is released, and the corner facing the intersection in particular is intend to the remnants of that time as a forest on the street corner. The gymnasium building facing there has a regional opening on the 1st floor and an arena on the 2nd floor, which can be used independently. Students come to school from the stairs on the 2nd floor, the 3rd to 5th floors are composed of one floor for each grade, and the 6th and 7th floors are for special classrooms. Students move mainly by stairs, and in order to strengthen the continuity and connection between the upper and lower floors, and X-shaped gentle staircase with the two entrances and exits is installed in the center of the building to connect the open space. The staircase is intended not only for movement, but also as a space where students can stop and talk and become an opportunity for encounters and exchanges. The 5th floor can be used the athletic field on the gymnasium building roof. The high-rise school building requires high durability and construction accuracy, and the reason of reducing construction noise for the surrounding area, the structure is made of precast and prestressed concrete. This project is a high precision, a high-quality frame itself become the exterior, and the school get to the symbol of new community as well as the inheritance of the local scenery.

Discovering new urban school buildings

In this project, although the educational curriculum is the same as other public junior high schools, special conditions overlapped, such as a very limited site area, a deformed shape, and a difference in elevation. Through hearing to the dreams, requests, and opinions of those involved at five times workshops, we resolved the need for a large ground by creating a compact three-dimensional school building. This project is to create a regional open space that inherits the history and culture of the Tabata area, which is connected to the adjacent Dairyu ji Temple and Hachiman Shrine. We believe this will also serve as a prototype for a new urban school building.