A warm and open appearance for KA Pegasus

An open building design 

The Pegasus school was a pilot project and test case for Schools of Tomorrow: the first of 180 schools to be established according to this procedure. Architect agency Urban Platform got the job of designing the new school building. Their design consisted of an elongated building, with all classrooms on the upper floor, and the administration and office spaces on the ground floor.  

“The client wanted to emphasize the openness of the school to the world. It was quite a challenge for us to translate that requirement into a building,” says Tina Van Meenen, Senior Architect at Urban Platform. “The school is located in a very beautiful location, with a view of the green fields behind the school. Our aim was to create many views towards those fields. Partly for this reason, we opted for an open bicycle shed, which provides a view of the fields and also creates a floating illusion.” 

Choosing the right exterior cladding presented the architectural team with interesting challenges. “We had already chosen a lot of hard materials, such as concrete and glass. It was necessary to compensate for that elsewhere. We therefore went in search of materials with a warmer appearance. We thought of timber, but that choice is too maintenance-intensive, especially for a school. The choice therefore fell on a low-maintenance and durable material with an authentic wood look: Rockpanel Woods (‘Teak’ design).” 

Discreet fastening system 

Both Urban Platform and contractor Alheembouw are happy with their choice for Rockpanel cladding. “This was everything we had hoped for from an aesthetic point of view,” says Van Meenen. The architects also liked the practical side of the material. “We have extensively looked into the available fixing options. We wanted a way of mounting that was as invisible as possible, but we were not keen on glueing the facade boards. We opted for a visible screw system, which is nevertheless very discreet. It was a pleasant surprise when we found that this screw system does not stand out at all in the appearance of the facade. This is partly because the screws are in the colour of the Rockpanel Woods boards.” 

Satisfied with the end result 

Throughout the project, Urban Platform was in close contact with a local Rockpanel representative, who explained the system and helped to draw up an installation plan in which cutting waste was minimized. The new school building was completed in 2016. Van Meenen looks back with satisfaction on the realization of the project and use of Rockpanel Woods: “It’s an aesthetically high-quality, cost-effective and maintenance-friendly solution. An architect sometimes hesitates to use a material with a wood look, because they fear that the end result will look somewhat fake, but that fear is absolutely unfounded. These timber effect cladding boards look beautiful in combination with the glass sections and contribute to the quality of the delivered building,” concludes Van Meenen. 

*Disclaimer: Due to changes in our assortment, it is possible that the designs shown in this case study are no longer available. Feel free to contact us in case of doubt.