Designing ‘Future Schools’ to Integrate Lifetime Learning, Vocational Training and Student Living within the Community
Over 5 years and as part of an ongoing design project, Studio Woodroffe Papa worked closely with a school organisation, ROCvA, to research and design new types of multifunctional school buildings that are more integrated into their urban context.
ROCvA stands for ‘Amsterdam Regional Community College’ which covers Amsterdam and the nearby towns of Amstelveen, Hoofddorp and Hilversum. It is one of the largest Community Colleges in Europe, offering vocational education and training for 35,000 students in about 60 locations. Its long-term strategy is to re-locate all its regional facilities into a series of large, multi-functional buildings that are fully integrated with their surroundings.
On five challenging locations in Amsterdam, we were commissioned to carry out urban and architectural studies. In the search for sustainable solutions, the contexts of each location directed the choice of vocational education and the mix of uses to link with the surrounding neighbourhood on each site. The result of this working methodology produced different organisations of school buildings that mixed school activities and community-based functions in different ways.
- ROCva Studies
- NL, Amsterdam
- Client
- ROCvA
- Programme
- 120,000 m2 educational program,\
Site area: 9 ha\
Workscope: Commissioned Study\
Status: Delivered
Designing ‘Future Schools’ to Integrate Lifetime Learning, Vocational Training and Student Living within the Community
