Primary School, Szentpéterfa

Architects: András Cseh, Ádám Tátrai, Dávid Németh, József Élő, Szilárd Köninger
Text: Krisztina Somogyi
Photos: Alex Shoots Buildings / Alexandra Timpau, CAN Architects

For CAN Architects, the link between architecture and learning is a fundamental topic: whether it is built environment education, a theoretical framework for spatial design or the design of an actual school, the aim is to redefine the pedagogical environment by breaking down fixed topics and introducing experimental ideas. In this sense, the school conversion and extension project in St. Petersburg is a synthesis. From another point of view, it is a beginning: a very first gesture towards the introduction of a new model of space. A space for young school children was created by converting the former school building at the front of the street. The optimal configuration here for young children is a classroom with a raised, colour-accentuated, textile-lined retracted section at the end, where they can relax, listen and watch in different bodily positions. The upper school section is housed in a newly built wing in the inner part of the site, with a bolder and more free-style design. The façades are rhythmically structured by firm, sizeable openings. The central part of the new building is a richly spaced auditorium, which functions as a restaurant, a gathering space and even a science lecture hall with a wall that extends in one direction. The richness of the spatial design is characterised by a large number of passageways and various optical connections: classrooms open into the different courtyards with large, characteristically composed windows and exits. The most important architectural component is the red canopy between the two buildings, a kind of stoa that connects the structures like a tentacle. Open on all sides and enclosed by a roof, the boldly shaped corridor is a central constituent of the architectural scheme. The palette is also an expression of Croatian identity, which is cardinal to the community.

Architecture, interior design: CAN Architects
Leading architects: András Cseh DLA, Ádám Tátrai, Dávid Németh, József Élő, Szilárd Köninger
Fellow architects: Fanni Beiermeiszter-Nagy, Tamás Beiermeiszter, Barbara Pati, Anna Zorica Timár
Main contractor: TAKÉP 2000
Client: Municipality of Szentpéterfa