1219 GO Carolus Magnus
refurbishment and extension of a school

This small flemish school in Brussels is housed in a munificent house dating about a century. However, the left part of the building consists of small secondary rooms, which are unfit for the school programme. We propose to demolish these rooms behind the existing facade, and replace them with a contrasting volume. Bright and spatious classrooms are added, as a new vertical circulation, connecting all levels of the school. This radical intervention transfigures the circulation scheme of the building, its entrance and its relationship with the courtyard. At the back of the courtyard, former industrial spaces house the school restaurant and a sports hall. The old leaking sheds are replaced by truncated pyramidal roofs, which maximize the available volume and modifies the spatial quality.