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GREEN ARK

The primary school is located in Allmend district in a new area that is being currently developed with offices, residences and retail. With our proposal we wanted to increase the presence of nature in the area by using the building itself as an ‘ark’ of nature. According to the ‘Green Ark’ idea the programme of the school is divided in three groups with voids created in between the  volumes of each group. Nature takes over in these voids, with trees and bushes of various heights according to the size of the void. A box-like latticed envelope wraps around the volumes constituting unity. The envelop serves as a structure for climbing plants and thus serves as a filter for protecting the school space from summer sun and winter wind while it makes it possible for the building to ‘breathe’. Nature in the school serves as both a regulator of the micro-climate conditions, as well as an occasion for educational engagement of the students. The voids serve as the main public spaces of the school that develop in three levels. The classroom groups are arranged in a cross-like configuration so as to create various grades of common space for hosting various activities.  The pedestrian bridge that connects the city with the district of the school follows the latticed form of the envelop offering multiple views in the area.

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PROJECT: Primary School

CLIENT: Municipality of Zurich

PLACE/TIME: Zurich, Switzerland, 2016

A draftworks and dkwerkraum collaboration

DESIGN TEAM: Daphne Kokkini (dk), Christiana Ioannou (dw), Christos Papastergiou (dw)

TEAM ASSOCIATES: Christina Panayi architect, Rafaella Christodoulou architect, Andrea Kleanthous architect, Kyriakos Miltiadous architect, Panayiotis Rotsides architect, Andreas Biros student of architecture

CONSULTANTS: Mattias Koehler architect, Adonis Kleanthous architect, Cadrage Landschaftsarchitekten GmbH, Naef Enegietechnik

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