This project starts from the vague idea of understanding a school as a children’s story, as a tool to stimulate, excite and surprise them. Self-absorbed, unaware of its surrounding environment, the building hardly touches the perimeter of the plot, except at the entrance, where the perimeter is broken to absorb the pavement under a large porch, inviting one to enter the building. Here, the volumes are distorted, sinuous or curl in on themselves to create continuous, interconnected spaces. A simple, clear functional layout is proposed: the classrooms for nursery education (bathed by sunlight) and communal areas are located on the ground floor, while classrooms for primary education are on the first floor. From a construction viewpoint, the structure and envelope of the school can be modulated through the use of a common order and metric, which also set the criteria for the remaining systems. The formal independence of the two floors of the building is resolved by using solid structural supports on the ground level on which the lightweight structure of the first floor freely rests, seemingly dissolved into the various compartmentalisations. Apart from the shape, the colours and trees are also co-opted into building this landscape.

client : CIEGSA (school infrastructures dept, generalitat valenciana)
head architects : marta orts – carlos trullenque
assistant architects : carlos nieto, magdalena domoslawska
structural engineering : david gallardo (+ diego velayos), architects
building technician : CGTÉCNICA
services engineering : GIA (luis sanchis – agustí vila)
photography : diego opazo (model)