St. Nicolaaslyceum

Amsterdam, Netherlands

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St. Nicolaaslyceum

Amsterdam, Netherlands

Firm

DP6 architectuurstudio

Type

Educational › High School Auditorium Library

YEAR

2012

Photos

Jeroen musch (4), Michel Kievits (4)

The St. Nicolaaslyceum forms an integrated part of society, has ambitiously modern views and an open-minded outlook on education. Sports and culture are the spearheads that make the school stand out. Based on the vision that education should stimulate and challenge students to learn, the architectural design of the St. Nicolaaslyceum has resulted in a building that both offers security and encourages study and exploration.

The new building of the St. Nicolaaslyceum is located along the Amsterdam Zuidas business district, next to the Beatrix Park. Its outside areas make the school into an inseparable part of its surroundings. The central atrium is oriented towards the park and to the public square, two directions that converge in the atrium to convey an inspiring sense of space. External spaces fan out through the building and become playing field, urban balcony, trial garden or roof terrace for outdoor experiments. The underground sports hall creates a gradual entrance route from the Beethovenstraat.

The central atrium forms the hub of the building where all its spaces are interconnected. This is where everybody enters the building, where students have their break on the bleachers, where theatre productions are staged, and from where students and teachers fan out into the rest of the school building. Rising from the oak bleacher steps, the central staircase spirals upwards, circling the lobby. Each of the floors offers a view of the central space, making it a perfect point of reference as well as creating a sense of intimacy and security. The building's compactness combines with the sense of space and high degree of transparency to stimulate social interaction and cross-subject learning.

The resulting architecture has turned the school into a major binding factor.

The building has a very low energy performance coefficient, achieving high energy savings thanks to its innovative energy and systems concept.