The construction of variable number of storeys (from 1 to 3 floors) accommodated a standard set of premises: educational classes, recreation, sports and assembly halls, a dining room and workshops. The school, built in one of the central districts of a huge metropolis, is completely made of wood - according to the architect's plan, this material will help students feel closer to nature and for a while forget about the raging Tokyo.
Kuma chose cedar for the outer walls and roofing, and the school interiors are finished with panels of recycled straw, reed and poplar wood: this material not only has excellent sound insulation properties, but is also ideal for placing all kinds of drawings, diagrams and schedules.
In terms of the plan, the school is an elongated rectangle, and the first floor is significantly wider than the two upper ones, thanks to which each room on the second floor has a large terrace. Instead of a traditional corridor system, the architect proposed a layout in which classrooms are located both along the two outer walls of the building and in the middle of the corridor. And if the middle offices are actually walk-throughs, then the main rooms can be either isolated with the help of transparent partitions, or made part of the common space.
And so that from the outside the building does not look like a monotonous long volume, the architect splits its gable roof into 12 separate segments of different lengths, highlighting different functional areas and giving the building a dynamic silhouette. The composite roof also helps to create the most comfortable microclimate in the school: its elongated slopes face south, protecting the building from overheating. The solar panels placed on them help to provide the complex with electricity, and the rainwater collection system installed here also reduces the load on the city water supply system.
A. M.
