Brederocollege Amsterdam
Dick Van Gameren en Bjarne Mastenbroek
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Status:
Realized
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Education type:
Municipal Education
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Education level:
Secondary Education
Technical Secondary Education
Vocational Secondary Education
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Address:
Buiksloterweg 85, 1031 Amsterdam
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Client:
City of Amsterdam
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Keywords:
Community school
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Programme:
classrooms for practical work, restaurant, dining area, media room, sports hall, school grounds
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Area:
new building: 1950m2
renovation: 364m2
Positive image based on neighbourhood integration and after-school use
The extension of the existing school for HAVO and MAVO with a VMBO education course in technical and consumer subjects was the perfect opportunity for the school to do something about its lack of space and negative image. Because of the absence of a suitable open space for a playground and adapted communal areas in the school, loitering pupils had been a serious problem for the district for years.
It is not easy for the small extension to measure up to the existing monumental school building dating from 1935. The new building cannot possibly compete with the old building, which has turned its back to the street with heavy brick walls and tall windows, in an introverted way. For this reason, the extension had to be positive in other ways and it was decided to opt for a lighter, lower building. In addition, the single storey building could be built with a cheap steel framework and in this way comply with the low budget. In the end the school extension was built for 850 euros/m2.
The entrance to the school is now situated in the new building where the pupils go into the playground by a staircase. This has completely reversed the hierarchy of the old building. The new playground is on the roof of the new building and consists of various places which can be used in different ways. On the edges the pupils can lean on the balustrade to look out onto the street, making them involved in their environment. There is a fenced sports field and an area with benches and a large slope. You enter the inner garden with an old tree as the central element, by the lazy, landscaped staircase. The new auditorium, dining area and media room are folded around this central outdoor space. Classrooms for practical work are situated along the street side behind a glass wall. This is like a large display window where modern active education is revealed in the cookery department, the restaurant/bar and the sports hall. The sports hall is used in the evenings by local sports clubs. The restaurant opens up to the public twice a week and is located in the most distinctive place in the building. The angular corner at the head of the building is executed in curved glass.
The new school is the stage for the constant movement which takes place in, through and on the building and serves as a platform for activities. The school reveals itself to the surrounding area. The building is striking but modest. The larger volume of the old school can be seen behind. The blind side wall of the old building has been turned into an art project: a canvas with a greater than life-size portrait of a pupil which changes every six months and in this way communicates with the local area. The whole programme was not only translated into an attractive building without exceeding the budget, but by means of the new interaction with the district, the problems of the past were quickly forgotten and the school has acquired a new and positive image.