With this project, the municipality transforms the village school and its surroundings into a spatially sustainable and socially integrated center. Through master plan studies, LAVA architecten explored the potential of financial feasibility, structural sustainability, and user-friendliness, with a focus on public benefit to address strong local needs. In addition to adding a housing ensemble with social housing, the municipal government decided to expand and repurpose certain school functions. The gymnasium will be upgraded and expanded to accommodate competitive sports, and the cafeteria will be transformed into a dual-purpose cultural hall with a bar function and a professional training kitchen.
The circulation areas in the school pavilions will be reimagined as either a multipurpose space or a compact entrance hall. This results in a school without traditional corridors. Flexible, adaptable spaces can be modified to meet the needs of the children and the various educational formats. When the partition walls are opened, a large multifunctional play and learning landscape emerges.
The pavilions are integrated into the landscape, structured and oriented around the intersection of existing public pathways. Large-scale volumes are avoided, both in the village housing and in the green valley. The recessed pavilions maximize interaction between the green environment and school activities, presenting themselves as new public landmarks. The façade ends emerging from the slope mark the entrances to the site: the primary school at the start of the footpath and the sports and cultural hall at the forecourt near Leuvensebaan.