Atelier Central’s program approach is the consequence of the confrontation of the 1950’s school versus the new and desired learning culture. Nowadays, the living experience and school methods are very distinct from the old days, when Josefa de Óbidos was built. The main goal is to think and design accordingly to the contemporary relations of individual and spatial school surroundings.
The project design aims to stimulate new experiences and gatherings through the transparency between environments, space confluence and a convergence between different activities which together can provide a greater and healthier education.
To answer to Parque Escolar’s expectations about this new assignment, Atelier Central’s sought to intervene surgically in the existing buildings and, occasionally, do minor expansions, in order to fix the Functional Program determined by Parque Escolar together with the Executive School Council.
Atelier Central’s objective is to preserve the original school image, by restoring and refurbishing the existing building.
Constrained by the small exterior surrounding area, it was imposed from the beginning not to occupy the existing building with massive constructions. For easier organizational proposes, the classrooms are inserted in the existing buildings and new functional intentions are designed with other typological requirements for the new designed buildings. These new volumes are implanted North in a lost and abandoned area and were thought to have a similar color as the existing building for a better composition and homogenization.