The press preview of the new building of the international boarding school, recently built by the RD Group holding according to the concept of the British bureau Tim Flynn Architects in the small town of Dilijan, was dedicated to the centenary of the Armenian Genocide. UWC Dilijan College is one of the largest and most complex buildings built in Armenia in recent years.
The first stage of the international school in Dilijan is already working, 96 students from 50 countries of the world, aged 16 to 18, live and study in it. For two years, the guys study under the International Baccalaureate (IB) program, after which they receive an international diploma, which will allow them to enter the world's leading universities. The school, as its name implies, operates under the UWC program, whose goal is to strengthen tolerance and tolerance by educating young people in a multicultural environment: schools unite students of different nationalities and religions, forming friendships between them that students will carry throughout their lives. The first college of this group was opened in 1962 in England, the construction of the fifteenth is now being completed in China. Dilijan College became the first UWC school in the post-Soviet space.
The idea to build such a school in Armenia belongs to the founder of the Moscow school of the Skolkovo business school Ruben Vardanyan and his wife Veronica Zonabend, and it was possible to bring it to life thanks to the participation of more than two hundred benefactors in the project. The construction of the school was undertaken by the international development holding RD Group, owned by one of the founding partners of UWC Dilijan College Gagik Adibekyan. The second stage is expected to be completed in 2017.
Dilijan is a relatively small resort town in the mountains, located on the border of the national reserve, twenty-three kilometers north of Lake Sevan. The city, climbing the slopes along the roads, consists of hotels and boarding houses - however, there are quite a few streets of the old center with traditional stone houses, and to the east in the mountains - the Haghartsin monastery with temples of the X-XIII centuries. The school is located in the western part on the edge of Dilijan. It, like the whole city, is surrounded by mountains approaching from all sides, which, I must say, form a climate in the valley that is mild enough for an altitude of 1500 meters above sea level. Although most of the year it is still colder here than in Armenia as a whole. The picturesque nature and old architecture of Dilijan, which was once a favorite place for artists, poets and composers - almost like the Central Russian Plyos - are reflected in the image of the new school. British architects have set themselves the task of integrating the school, sports complex and residential campus complex, as well as complementary sports grounds, into the surrounding landscape.
However, as experts from the RD Group admit, the British project was significantly changed during implementation. The reason - the peculiarities of the region: landslide slopes, seismic zone, as well as the bed of the mountain river Aghstev located next to the site - all this had to be taken into account when finalizing the project. Dmitry Letov, the head of the construction project of UWC Dilijan College, spoke about the difficulties that he had to face during the construction: it was necessary to build retaining walls to strengthen and stabilize the slope, provide a drain for the mudflow, protect the river bed - in a word, many non-standard difficulties were combined on one construction site. However, the builders coped with the task and the themes of environmental friendliness, energy efficiency and respect for the environment set in the project were preserved.
It is interesting that the school was allowed to be built in accordance with international norms and standards, without strict reference to the norms in force in Armenia. Through the use of energy efficient solutions and technologies, the college received a BREEAM green building certificate and became the first project in the country to be certified for environmental standards. Local natural materials were used in construction and decoration. For example, the elongated hulls, simple in shape, were dressed in a "suit" made of stone quarried in a nearby quarry and softly colored ocher tuff. Tuff is the most traditional and favorite material in Armenia; the ends of educational buildings were lined with it. The pixelated pattern, defined by the shades of the stone slabs, continues on the long facades of the buildings, adding warmth and echoing the mountain slopes. Residential buildings with traditional pitched roofs are also faced with predominantly stone; they are separated from the school by a large football field.
A lot of glazing is used on the facades of the school. This visually lightens the image of the building and fills the classrooms with light. But the most attractive technique is living green walls and smoothly curved roofs, covered with a real lawn. The undulating surface of all roofs reminds of the picturesque mountain slopes of Dilijan. As for the walls, the uneven blotches of live native plants look very natural. The green walls, created according to the English system with automatic irrigation and drainage, live the same life as the surrounding landscape: in winter they merge with the soft pastel colors of the forest, and in spring they bloom, turning the walls into lush flower beds.
When designing, the authors had to think about more than the environment. An equally important and difficult task was the need to create a favorable, stimulating atmosphere for learning inside. Spacious atriums with cheerful and bright furniture, wide staircases and green glass inserts turned out to be light and open. Classrooms are equipped with state-of-the-art technology, such as interactive whiteboards on which you can draw with your hands. Students spoke with great enthusiasm about their new home with a multi-level snow-white library, a large swimming pool, gyms, a research complex and a full-fledged medical center. While the school seems still too large for 96 young students, according to plans for the development of the school, in 2023 the number of students will increase to 670 people. It is important that the school will provide an opportunity for gifted children from Armenia to receive an international level education free of charge, regardless of their socio-economic status. It is equally important that the school promises to become a starting point for the development of the beautiful city of Dilijan.
The international investment and development holding RD Group is one of the largest players in the premium-class commercial and residential real estate market and operates in three key areas - investment, construction and real estate management. The holding structure includes a direct investment fund Romanov Property Holdings Fund (RPHF), a construction company RD Construction and a management company RD Management. The assets of the RD Group holding are managed by the RD MC. RD Group has 20 years of experience in the market, more than 2,000 qualified employees and 2,100,000 m2 in a project portfolio.
The ZinCo green roof was built by Udo Dagenbach (Sylvia Glaser and Udo Dagenbach), which has 25 years of experience in landscape architecture and construction. At the 4th International Congress "Green Roof 2015" in Istanbul, the college in Dilijan was named a laureate in the category "Perspective Architecture".
In Russia, the interests of ZinCo have been represented by ZinCo RUS for more than 10 years, which actively uses ZinCo technologies at Russian facilities."Tsinko RUS" is a member of the National Roofing Union of Russia, the Union of Architects of Russia, the Association of Builders of Russia, and also conducts a course of lectures for advanced training for specialists of construction and architectural organizations on roof greening systems. Material provided by the company "Tsinko RUS"
