Elementary School

Lebbeke, Belgium

Photo © Tim Van De Velde

Drawing © Compagnie O. Architects

Schools

Architects: Compagnie O. Architects

Location: Brusselsesteenweg 43, 9280 Lebbeke, Belgium
Year: 2017

The design is the result of a rigid transaltion of the clients visionairy brief. The city of Lebbeke wanted a school that would withstand the change of time; a building that could grow and breathe with the ever changing needs of the educational system and it's users.

Our response was to supply an intelligent structure: a collection of steel grids (columns and beams) ready to take in any needed program. In the centre of the structure the columns are removed to give way to an inner courtyard, here the heart of the building is formed. This large open space is surrounded by a different tissue, varying in desnisty and rhythm. It is within the forest of colums and beams that the classrooms are placed, away from the street, overviewing the comunal park and school playgrounds. The school admininstration sits between the heart of the school and the public domain; froming a hub for interaction with the community.

The entire school is pushed 5 meters back from the street, behind a giant white wall; although originally this was essential in the building regulations, we wanted use this element to create an open space, an inbetween safe zone, without cars and an ideal space for parents to pick up their kids, with a view on the internal structure of the school.