Nieuwe Park Rozenburgschool

Nieuwe Park Rozenburgschool, Rotterdam, [NL]
The ‘Nieuwe Park Rozenburgschool’ is an elementary school in Rotterdam’s quarter Kralingen-Crooswijk with children from various ethnic, cultural and social backgrounds.

The school has been spread over two locations within the district. With the extension of one of the locations all school facilities could be united again and help the school function as one institution. The location for the extension presents a complex and small-scale urban situation which asks for a sensible design of the building mass, the materialization of the facades and the accessibility of the site.

The program consists of a new building with 2.000 m² as extension of an existing building with 1.200 m². The existing school building is a municipal monument, built in 1931 by the brothers Evert and Herman Kraaijvanger, and renovated internally by KCAP in 2005. With a total of 3.200 m² the school houses 21 classrooms, of which 14 in the new and 7 in the existing building.
The new three storey building refers with its contours and brick facades to a school building which previously occupied this exact location. With the vertical façade pattern it reveals a temporary appearance. On ground level, a glass volume connects the new and the old building which can additionally be merged with neighboring rooms to one large multifunctional space with direct access to the outside. The classrooms are located on the first and second floor. Broad hallways allow for creating multifunctional and flexible spaces which can be linked to the classrooms for class-oriented and special education activities.

The new building is labeled as ‘Frisse Scholen’ (fresh schools) class B and scores high sustainability results. The structure consists of a light construction of wooden columns with dividing walls. This provides for flexibility in the usage of the space and creates a warm character for the interior of the school. All materials are chosen with respect to minimize maintenance efforts and to maximize their durability.