Vensterschool

Narratives

Architect Narrative

This school is open to all children from 0 to 15 years in order to create a stimulating atmosphere for playing and teaching. The programme and the building are designed to achieve education geared to the needs of the children. For parents the building is made to get them more involved in education, to build op networks, and to ease the stressful life of the ‘working parent’. For the community as such it is a place that is easy to find, with a low threshold. Offering a variety of activities centred around play, upbringing and education of children in the broadest sense of the word — Bildung.

Some five years ago the archirect was fortunate to be asked by the city of Groningen to design an experimental community school. The concept for this school, the so-called ‘vensterschool’, was developed as a response to the social problems in disadvantaged neighbourhoods. Meaning families at risk, a lack of provisions, poor housing, schools with a majority of children at risk.
Although the concept started this way, it soon became clear that the force of the concept is it is flexibility and adaptability. The idea of this type of community school can be transplanted into any community. The contents of each vensterschool depend on the specified needs and problems of each neighbourhood.

Participation and ambition
The ambition of the city council to create a new and better school was and still is ambitious. To maintain this ambition throughout the process of designing and building, participation was the key word. Getting all the participants to realise the advantage of the ‘vensterschool’ concept, wanting to integrate different services, was a matter of time and effort. In this process, the architects worked as catalysts. Their major role was translating the ambition and concept into a building.
Despite the discussions throughout the design process, the participants evolved into good neighbours. Although the school has already been open for a year, the participants are still developing and hopefully they never will stop getting inspired by each other.

Integration and identity
Mixing different functions in one building is a challenge. Examples from the past have shown that an integration when it’s too extensive, does not work. However, although it might seem a paradox, integration of different functions in one building requires a clear and visible identity of each participant. The participants must be able to gain new possibilities, must be able to work together and interact. Integration must create surplus value, and it is important to define which functions can cause problems in order to create the right base for integration.

The building must be an open and transparent structure in order to stimulate interaction. When needed it must be possible for each participant to function as a solitary entity with its own specific programme and place.

For the neighbourhood in the area where the school is located, a programme was developed consisting of a school for 16 class rooms, a nursery for 5 groups, a library, a community centre and sports facilities including an existing sports accommodation and a public pool. The whole complex has a gross area of 6233 m2. The location for the school is a green zone, a park with a public pool and sports accommodations.

Like a village with houses, streets and squares, a composition of made of smaller volumes, in scale and atmosphere of the children. This in contrast to the existing sports facilities. The complex has a central place in the community. The diversity of functions creates lively activity and draws attention. Along the street of the school, a forty-meter long billboard indicates the presence of the Vensterschool. It raises curiosity and invites you in.
From the entrance an internal street, passing the public pool and the library, leads to the main space of the complex, to the ‘Vensterplein’ (= Venster square). This space is the heart of the building. From here it’s possible to reach each of the facilities; the school, the nursery, the library, the community centre or the sports accommodation. It is an informal space, like a town square, where kids are walking to and from the school, on their way to the library, to a workout in the gym or a cooking class in the community centre.
Parents bring their children to school, afterwards they drink coffee together in the cafe, or they visit the library before joining a language course in the community centre.
At the ‘Vensterplein’ it is possible to have a ‘children’s book market’, a community meeting… it is a space to be used by children, parents, elderly, sportspeople, internetters, everyone.
As a covered square this ‘Vensterplein’ is linking the different volumes of the building. The complex is like a village, where the boundary between private and public space can fade, but can also be clear and defined, depending on the needs. Here the different facilities can coexist and give body to the idea of the integrated and prolonged school day, which is the base of the concept of the ‘vensterschool’.

The school of the future
All over the Netherlands similar experiments are being set up. Vensterschool, brede (broad) school, forum school, they are all based on the same theme. Interaction and integration between a variety of functions in order to improve the education of children in the broadest sense of the word. An exciting development, but hopefully it does not stop here.
Over the past hundred years there have been few basic changes in the perception of classrooms. A space big enough to house the children of a group of 22, 25 of even 33 children. The children are seated behind small tables, placed in rows or groups. Each classroom is organised along a hallway, wide or narrow, or clustered around a central space. Almost all activity takes place in this classroom. In short, a very classic perception of a school. Yet there are so many new developments in communication, in teaching methods and in child psychology. The question comes up whether it is time to redefine a school.

What sort of surroundings do we need to develop education? We need to rethink the school and redefine the classroom. Is the classroom a place to have a group meeting? This in combination with a variety of different places? A place to play? A place to work out? A place to explore and practice art? A place to study alone or together? A place to make music?