New School Chýně - Competition Results

1. PRIZE

/ 300,000 CZK

Atelier CMJN - François Lepeytre, Gaël Brulé
collaborators: Hector Hernandez

This project convinced the jury based on all competition criteria: overall urban planning solution, architectural quality, clear and smart functioning and program, as well as economic use of space and a thoughtful architectural concept with regard to ecological aspects.
The complex of buildings is well connected to a logical access road from the center of the municipality through the linear park Višňovka, which culminates in the square in the design. This square, plaza, is a public space, an open and accessible core of the new construction, serving both as a well-programmed community center and as an entrance hall to an innovative school.
Social spaces, such as the auditorium, cafeteria, or sports facilities, are located on the northern and southern sides of the new square, while the school is on its eastern side along with the library; the school has two entrances, one specifically for the first and another for the second grade. Community functions along with educational ones can operate well in synergy as well as independently.
This school design stands out for its approach to the relationship between interior and exterior: immediately upon entering the school, visitors have a visual connection to the internal courtyard, which can be used for teaching. Students of the second grade are then guided towards the sports facilities to the east, while first-grade children have a more intimate yet spacious garden on the southern side. All outdoor spaces are interconnected.
The cluster internal organization of the school operation allows for the application of various educational procedures while providing good spatial orientation.
Overall, the scale of the design, its sensitivity to the needs of the community, as well as the placement of a potential future swimming pool can greatly positively influence the shared and social life of students and other residents of Chýně.
 
Jury recommendation — The project can be expanded as it currently uses less space than most other designs. This way, it is easy to achieve the desired: larger common spaces in individual clusters and larger cafeteria and kitchen. The common space in the first grade should be enlarged with regard to adding changing rooms and the missing social facilities for students.
The jury also supports opening the clusters on the second floor to the roof so that it can be used as a terrace.
A protected/covered connection should be created between the school and the cafeteria, as well as between the school and the gymnasiums (in the latter case without undesirable interventions into the spaces of the school club).
The jury also recommends reworking the facades of the gymnasiums so that they are better connected to the exterior of the public space. The small gymnasium should, in a similar spirit, be connected to the first-grade garden.
The jury strongly supports the continued collaboration with the client on the design of the square, including sports facilities.
In the next stage of design, it is necessary to carefully approach the work with the terrain, as well as to thoroughly examine the proposed parking in synergy with the overall transport solution for the wider area.
None of these proposed and recommended revisions should affect the overall quality of the design.

2. PRIZE

/ 150,000 CZK

ARCHITECTS mikulaj & mikulajová - Andrea Ambrovičová, Radoslav Kurucz, Jana Matlovičová, Juraj Mikulaj

The proposal with a clear urban concept linking to the Višňovka park makes good use of the terrain differences for the internal operation of the school. The main operations are organized into pavilions connected to a central foyer with an auditorium and school cafeteria. The foyer, as the social heart of the school, is a significant quality of the design and has the prerequisites for successful community life. The same applies to the library, which enriches the entrance space of the school.
Individual pavilions define semi-public outdoor spaces, which have the potential to connect the school well with the exterior for various outdoor activities. The best-solved area is the social amphitheater linking the cafeteria and auditorium. The outdoor atria to the northwest and southeast remain only in a scheme without convincing processing.
The classroom pavilions themselves are designed as a corridor system, which in the case of the second grade provides few usable common areas for establishing contacts and spending free time during breaks. In some cases, these corridors are unconvincingly finished. The main staircase of the second grade does not convincingly connect to the school entrance.
The orientation of classrooms to the southeast and southwest is slightly unfavorable and will require outdoor shading. The area for school management and teachers is mixed with the operation of the second grade and is too isolated. The position of the preparatory class is placed deep within the layout. The outdoor escape stair from the southern pavilion is recommended to be integrated into the volume of the school, thereby improving the possibility of using the adjacent garden.
The presented architectural solution is schematic, unlike the well-structured operational composition, and does not correspond in expression to the declared concept of wooden construction in the text.
Parking, although necessary, surrounds the school and somewhat isolates it from the surroundings. There is a lack of effective transport service in the morning hours (e.g., K+R). The narrow strip of greenery bordering the Višňovka by the entrance facade is too diminished in relation to pedestrian connections and the importance of the space.

3. PRIZE

/ 75,000 CZK

Martin Neruda
collaborators: Jana Šťastná, Zuzana Boháčová

The strong and simple concept is well and clearly developed into a quality proposal. The basis of the solution lies in the natural extension of the promenade leading to the proposed center of activity – the square defined by a rational, low mass of the building. The design works well with the terrain. The new formation defines itself against the surrounding buildings with a clear shape, yet its mass does not dominate the surroundings, gradually, discreetly controlling the adjacent spaces. The design is equally a school and a community center, both functions naturally intertwine.
However, the hard division into purely outdoor or indoor areas without transitional zones does not create a user-friendly environment. The schematism of the solution of the extensive area of the square without division into smaller, more manageable and usable parts is problematic. This solution, in the opinion of the jury, undesirably places all responsibility for managing the space onto the residents of the municipality. There is a conflict in the operational connection of the southern wing with the classrooms of the first grade directly with the public square – there is a lack of a transitional zone creating an intimate space for teaching and the possibility for students to freely use the outdoor space. The jury recommends re-evaluating the hardness of the proposed space; it believes that these shortcomings can be resolved while maintaining a clear concept.
A fundamental shortcoming is the placement of the swimming pool below the playground. It is impossible to phase construction without compromises. The final placement of the playground on the roof of the pool is debatable, feeling rather closed, subconsciously excluding the public. This solution brings potential restrictions and complications and does not fully meet the assignment.
There is also a lack of satisfactory transport solutions.
The architecture is modest with a contemporary expression, sometimes even too austere. It respects the place and is proportionate to its volume. The sculptural form adversely affects the financial demands of the solution; the design has the least favorable ratio of floor area to facade area among the awarded.
Operational links are well solved, even though apart from the conflict at the opening of the southern wing (block of the first grade) into the square, the primary classrooms are problematic in their layout and unfavorable depth/width ratio. The corridor layout of the first floor is too utilitarian and lacks the qualities of the ground floor layout. From an acoustic and operational solution perspective, the position of the large gymnasium is debatable. The large gymnasium is, concerning the assignment, small. The preparatory classes are less accessible; their location on the boundary with the public space would be more user-friendly.

REWARD

/ 45,000 CZK

KOGAA - Tomáš Kozelský, Viktor Odstrčilík, Alexandra Georgescu, Victor Quiros
collaborators: Tomáš Vižálek, Jaroslav Vokál, Miroslava Šešulková, Ondřej Mráz, Leo Odstrčilík

The jury appreciated the innovative approach of the authors to the spatial and functional arrangement of the school building. The design works with the element of "internal school landscape" as a freely flowing space for meetings, play, and alternative forms of teaching. At the same time, sufficient attention is also given to classic classrooms as the basic typological unit of the school. Their uniform arrangement along the northern facade ensures a constant and even level of daylight throughout the day. The jury values the authors’ courage to explore alternative typologies of school buildings through the competition proposal, even at the cost of the extreme spatial and directly resulting financial demands of such a building.

REWARD

/ 30,000 CZK

SLLA, s.r.o. - Michal Sulo, Miriam Lišková
collaborators: Lucia Kostrubová

The jury was impressed by the structural nature of the proposal and the simple concept working with scale and seeking a suitable expression for the school in the municipality. The chosen form of the pavilion school additionally allows for the thorough application of a cluster system of classroom arrangement, which the jury generally considers more suitable for modern teaching methods and the development of a sense of community among students.


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