Raadi Educational and Community Center
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education, sport, community
2022
contest
34 200 sqm
Raadi-Kruusamäe, Tartu, Estonia
The purpose of the competition project is to create an educational and community center consisting of a complex of interconnected school buildings, a sports complex, a kindergarten, as well as a stadium and a number of open areas for learning, sports and leisure. Some of the center's functions are available not only to school students, but also to all residents of the district. Various public and educational events can be held here.
The main idea of the project is to place the buildings of the school, sports complex and kindergarten around the main square organized by these buildings. The buildings themselves have a complex polygonal configuration due to the large number of complex functions for better organization of cross-functional connections. The area is located on the eastern side of the territory and is oriented towards a new low-rise residential building adjacent to the territory of the center. The existing irrigation canal, which divides the area into two parts, is at the same time a conditional separator between the built-up part of the area and the western part, where the main stadium and other sports and educational open spaces are located. Part of the irrigation channel remains and is used as an element of the improvement of the territory and as an element of the learning process.
TEAM:
Oleksandr Vdovychenko - concept, architecture
Oleksandra Vdovychenko - architecture, interior
Sophia Bondar - site plan, landscape desing
Oleksandr Bondarenko - visualization
The school building has a complex shape with different floors, consisting of several blocks organized around a small courtyard. The location of the blocks and their layering is determined by the function of each block and the functional connections between them. The construction of the school building is planned in two stages, so one of the blocks is placed separately from the others and is connected to the main building by a passage on all floors, which then leads to the sports complex building.
The building of the sports complex has a simple rectangular shape, which reflects its functional content with large sports halls, and a slanted lobby.
The kindergarten building is located separately from the other buildings on the eastern part of the territory, but also near the main square. It has two floors and, thanks to its shape, its inner semi-enclosed courtyard, from which the main entrance to the lobby is organized.
SCHOOL
The main entrance to the school building is organized from the main square. The main lobby is located under an overhanging part of the second floor, thus forming a large canopy in front of the main entrance. The lobby has fully glazed walls to the front and rear, with a courtyard beyond. On the first floor, there are all areas that have separate entrances: the music school, the needlework unit, the HEV section, as well as the elementary school sections. All blocks are connected by a corridor-gallery around the courtyard. Also on the first floor, near the main entrance, there is a cloakroom and a school canteen with access to the main square, where you can put outdoor tables in the warm season.
Two grand staircases in a small atrium lead to the school hall, library and auditorium from the lobby to the second floor. A second staircase leads to the staff section on the second floor.
Thus, all the main social functions of the school are grouped around the main lobby and courtyard. The courtyard is the main recreational area of the school, where students can gather during breaks and outside of school hours.
The second level of the school building is located to the side of the first part, has its own small lobby and cloakroom on the first floor. The block is connected to the first row by a short gallery on each floor.
Blocks with classrooms are located around the inner courtyard in such a way that semi-open courtyards are formed on the outer perimeter of the school building, limited by canopies, but have their continuation in the open area of the center. In these cozy courtyards, lessons can be held outside or they can be used for student recreation. The first two floors of the blocks with classes are home classes of the primary school, but the third and fourth floors are the subject classes of the senior school. Classrooms located on the first floor can have exits directly to the courtyards.
The three-story part of the building, located around the inner courtyard, has exits to the landscaped roof from the gallery of the fourth floor.
The courtyard - the main recreational area of the school building has access to the main lobby. Amphitheatres are planned in the courtyard and a small stage in the center where various informal events or games can be held. The yard has greenery.
SPORTS COMPLEX
The building of the sports complex is located next to the school building, immediately behind the block of the second level of the school and connected to it by a gallery on the second floor level. The building is located in the northern part of the territory, oriented along the street and closes the main square.
The lobby of the sports complex has two floors and an internal balcony from which the transition to the school building is made. In front of the vestibule, there is a large canopy on the outside, arranged in the form of a roof. In the lobby, there is a cafe, which faces the street that runs along the northern side of the territory.
The front part of the building has two floors. On the first floor, behind the lobby, there are dressing rooms, teachers' offices and changing rooms, and a sports hall. There are four small halls on the second floor.
Behind the two-story part of the sports complex is the main ballroom, 10 m high.
Part of the second floor is located above the small gym and forms a balcony that opens onto the large ballroom. It can be used for a game of ping pong, billiards or as a place for additional seats for spectators.
Under the main hall in the underground floor there is an underground shelter with a shooting range and technical premises of the sports complex building.
The shape of the building is determined by its function - large rectangular halls and a lobby that wraps around and completes the main square.
KINDERGARTEN
The building of the kindergarten is located next to the school, on the opposite side of the sports complex and thus closes the main square on the other side. At the same time, the V-shaped shape of the building forms its own courtyard of the kindergarten, isolated from the main square and oriented to the bicycle-pedestrian street from the southeast side of the territory.
Eight groups of the kindergarten are located on the first floor with entrances from the street, and four groups are located on the second floor, thus forming large green terraces. Entrances to the groups on the second floor also have separate entrances via external stairs integrated into the facades of the building.
ADJACENT TERRITORY AND ENTRANCES
In addition to the main entrance, the school building has several entrances to different sections.
To the right of the main entrance is the entrance to the school dining area. From the dining hall there can also be exits directly to the adjacent square, where tables can be taken out in the warm season.
Next, there is an entrance to the needlework section, from where you can also enter the music school. In front of this entrance, there is a small square where you can arrange open-air concerts and hold rehearsals. The area is separated from the building by a green buffer zone.
Between the dining hall and the section of the music school is a kitchen with its own entrance for loading products, there is a drive from the car street that separates the main square from the territory of the kindergarten. This passage is also suitable for the kitchen of the kindergarten.
Next, each block of classrooms has entrances from the semi-open courtyards formed by the blocks of classes. The entrance to the HEV section is provided through a gallery connecting the first and second phases of the school building. Also, the second stage of the school has an entrance to its lobby from the main square, next to the main entrance to the sports complex building.
The sports complex building, in addition to the main entrance, also has a side entrance, closer to the stadium and sports area. In addition, there is an additional exit from the underground part and two additional exits from the ballroom.
The kindergarten has its own fenced territory, the main entrance to the kindergarten lobby is located on the side of the inner yard. In addition, each kindergarten group has separate entrances from all sides of the building.
SITE
The main square is formed by the buildings of the school, sports complex and kindergarten, oriented to the northern side of the territory, in the buffer zone of which there is a street with car traffic, bicycle paths and a pedestrian zone, as well as buffer landscaping. A bus stop is planned on the side of the main square, opposite the main entrance to the school and next to the entrance to the sports complex.
The territory of the kindergarten is adjacent to the south-eastern side of the territory, along which bicycle and pedestrian zones are planned, as well as buffer landscaping. Playgrounds for different groups are located on the territory of the kindergarten.
A small square in front of the entrance to the music school is planned for the southern facade of the school. Further along the perimeter of the school is a quiet recreation area, which is a continuation of the semi-enclosed courtyards formed by classroom blocks. Another small area is planned between the buildings of the second stage of the school and the sports complex, which connects the sports complex with the stadium and the sports area, which is at the same time a storage area in front of the stadium, as well as near an additional exit from the underground shelter.
The noisier sports area is located on the northwest side of the territory and is adjacent to the planned street with automobile traffic. And the quieter zone of the garden, school garden and greenhouses is located on the southwest side and is adjacent to the bicycle-pedestrian street that runs along one- and two-story buildings with private residential buildings.
The sports area includes the main stadium, basketball and volleyball courts, a long jump field and a throwing field.
A skatepark is planned in the extreme western part of the territory, next to the sports area.
Parking lots are scattered along the northern part of the territory, where a street with automobile traffic is planned. Some of them are located near the bus stop, there are also parking spaces for school buses. Another site is located near the back of the sports complex, from where equipment can also be loaded into the gym. Other parking spaces are located along the carriageway of the road. A "Kiss and ride" stop is also planned.
