CHB Campinas F1 State School / MMBB Arquitetos

Architects: MMBB Arquitetos
Location: Sao Paulo, Brazil
Collaborators: Eduardo Ferroni, M·rcia Terazaki, Jaques Rordorf, Marina Sabino, Paula Cardoso, Renata Vieira e Thiago Rolemberg
Project Area: 3,000 sqm
Photographs: Nelson Kon

The project for this primary school is part of a group of four pilot projects developed by the FDE – Fundação para o Desenvolvimento da Educação (Educational Development Foundation) to define a standard school format and experiment with the application of a prefabricated structural system.

The school was built in a housing complex currently being constructed in Campinas by the São Paulo State Government. The lot is located in an area reserved for the construction of public facilities. It faces onto a square that completes the set of public spaces planned for the estate.

The way the school was sited opened the student and staff entrances onto the square and accommodated an open patio on the opposite, north-facing side of the plot.

The project defined the indoor multisports court as the spatial centre of the programme, thus creating a large and festive school. The ground floor is composed around the sports court, which helps preserve the continuity of the site. As such, the upper floors and circulation and living spaces were also organized around this void, therefore establishing an interconnection among the spaces.

The prefabricated structural system with reinforced and prestressed concrete elements was defined as a rectangular system of beams and pillars “welded” in-situ. This welding gives the structure a monolithic deportment, and using concrete block masonry for the siding, a depredation-resistant technique that requires minimal maintenance. Departing from this welding, we planned for large continuous panels of painted sheathing for the masonry and structure, which contrary to the rhythm of the modular elements of the prefabricated construction, confers unity upon the conjunct.