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All Souls World Language Catholic School
By : All Souls World Language Catholic School
GRANDS PRIX DU DESIGN – 17th edition
Discipline : Architecture
Categories : Public Building / School & Preschool Education Building : Gold Certification
All Souls World Language School (K-8), located just outside Los Angeles, is a 12,000 sf (1,100 sm) classroom building designed to passively respond to the local temperate climate whilerigorously fitting into a narrow sliver of land. Conceived as a series of ‘Classroom Cubes’ anchored to a solid Bar, the building maintains a sense of openness to frame views to distant mountains.
The building’s form is created by inserting circulation between two halves to capture prevailing breezes while also framing views to the north and south. 1st floor views connect thestreet & campus while the 2nd floor provides views to distant mountains and nearby cities. In order to emphasize openness one half is then divided into three cubes with vertical circulation set between them. These stairs are painted bright orange, have poured-in-place concrete benches at the bottom and expanded gathering areas at the top. Both stairs are under angled roofs that allow light to travel deeper into the building.
We then deformed the cubes with angular ‘knuckles’ that wrap corners and provide visual variation. Windows are set deeply into each knuckle to minimize the need to keep shades drawn. As a result, windows can be uncovered all day to allow constant natural light and minimize the need for artificial lighting.
Each Cube is finished with red brick tile to fit the existing school context but with a unique twist. This brick is actually two different colors and finishes that are set horizontally and vertically on the same wall. The design team carefully arranged the brick patterns as a subtle composition of red brick and light grout lines.
This is a unique classroom building with open circulation, various finishes and passive systems to minimize utility costs that encourages student interaction and openness.
Collaboration
