Colorful facade panels give appearance to new school in Blankenberge

“The school is located in the middle of an urban block. The challenge here was therefore to realize an extensive building project without disturbing the neighbours and still create sufficient light and visibility for the classrooms”, says Frederik Tomme, project architect at AVDK aRCHITECten. “That's why we opted for a compact building, with the sports hall partly underground. It protrudes one and a half meters above the ground to bring in sufficient daylight. The classrooms stacked on top of the sports hall have been shifted by one and a half floors compared to the classes next to it in a split-level system, creating a spatial relationship between both building volumes.” 

Cross-class working 
 
In addition to spaciousness, the pedagogical approach was especially important for the school board. The school wanted to move away from the classic long, narrow corridor with large classrooms on both sides. For this reason, the architectural firm has created a wide corridor that has been designed as an open learning landscape, with the necessary compartmentalisation to maintain good acoustics. In these spaces, the students work together as much as possible, while the time they attend classes in the smaller classrooms is relatively limited. Sliding doors between every pair of classrooms enables co-teaching. 
 
A fresh colour scheme 
 
The building is made of a concrete frame with infill masonry, which was a reason for the architects to go for a light facade material. “The choice for Rockpanel cladding was made quickly made, as the manufacturer offers such a wide range of colours,” says Frederik Tomme. “The facade consists of a number of horizontal, grey strips. Between those strips, we wanted to make the split-level system stand out clearly. We therefore wanted a fresh, striking colour and these shades of green stood out the most. We have also extended the green colour to the entrance zone, where we have worked with green glass.”  

Building in a maritime climate 

Artes Depret was the main contractor for the construction project, and of Tom Mauws bvba was responsible for installing the facade cladding. “We had to take into account the maritime maritime climate and the associated wind load”, says Rebecca Muylaert, co-manager of Tom Mauws bvba. “We mounted the Rockpanel facade panels with Rockpanel screws in the colour of the boards. These screws have increased corrosion resistance.” 

Perfect collaboration 
An additional challenge were the different formats of the rectangular facade boards, deliberately chosen by the architect to bring dynamism to the facade. “Because of the different widths, we needed more rear structure to install each panel according to the installation instructions,” explains Rebecca Muylaert. “The timber structure behind each board has to be exactly right in order to be able to screw them in correctly. Rockpanel has assisted us throughout the entire project in terms of advice to fixing and assembly. They have been on site several times to monitor the works. We are therefore very satisfied with the collaboration”, says Rebecca Muylaert. 

Tom Christiaens of Artes Depret agrees. “The smooth collaboration with Rockpanel, Tom Mauws bvba, AVDK architects and the thorough preparation have led to a successful result. With its fresh green tones, the school is a beautiful eye-catcher that can be seen.” 

*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.