The interventions in the Colegio Santa Marcelina located in Belo Horizonte Brazil came out as a demand by the nucleus of pedagogical innovation to create new spaces to support the learning dynamics in the school.
The design process was developed in collaboration with the teachers, students and the Marcelinas Sisters through brainstorm exercises that resulted in concepts for the spaces such as the maker space, the relax space and the balcony.
All the spaces have the same premise to be flexible and easily adaptable to different activities. The furniture has an important role and was a prominent aspect of the project.
The maker space is a place for more active learning experiences and was designed to be a dynamic space that could offer a big variety of thematic workshops taught by internal teachers or guests.
It was designed high tables with stools, movable countertops with big drawers, displays, a digital map library, a customisable wall system with shelves and hangers, and a tank.
The relax space is a space both to rest and for students meetings, with a more informal furniture like poufs, sofas and comfortable upholstered niches installed in the holes of existing wardrobes.
The T walls system was used to allow different layouts like exhibitions, separation for group games, micro spaces or a backdrop for theatrical rehearsals, and more possibilities.
A group of surfaces was also developed with different heights that can form a grandstand but also works for different purposes when used separately such as a small laptop table , benches, normal tables or high tables.
The balcony adjacent to the relax space was transformed into decompression space for students with low sofas, book shelves and roller blinds for sun protection.
Architects: Gabriel Castro, Marcos Franchini e Pedro Haruf
Interns: Amanda Castilho and Gabriel Nardelli
Execution: Lamartine Almeida
Blacksmith: TL Estruturas Metálicas
Furniture: Dalmóbile
Pendant lamps: Geraldo Coelho