Day Care, Kindergarten and primary school / Jordi Badia

Architect: Jordi Badia
Location: c/Roger de Flor 123, Granollers, Spain
Project: 2003
Construction: 2006
Collaborators: Jordi Framis, Daniel Guerra, Marcos Catalán, Sergi Serrat
Structure: Eduard Doce, architect
Technical Architect: INYPSA. Antonio Leciñena, Joan Vilanova
Mesures and budgets: Francesc Xairó
Services: Consulting Lluís Duart
Client: GISA, Gestió d’infraestructures S.A. Departament d’Ensenyament
Photographs: Pedro Pegenaute

This elementary school is divided into two parts: The classrooms on one level and a lower section housing the cafeteria and the Gym.

It was built in two stages so that classes could proceed in the old building, which is on the same site. In the first phase the classrooms were built on the ground floor and on two upper floors, aligned to one of the corridors. The dining hall and the gym were built in the second phase, when the pupils had moved to the new classrooms.

The classrooms are on a strip, aligned to the street, between common walls. This strip is closed to the street and receives natural light through a series of patios, forming 3-storey-high empty volumes, used then as playgrounds for the children.

A linear staircase connects the three floors, constructing an interior focal point and converting the three floors into a single volume which receives light filtered through a series of alternate vertical openings.

The façade emphasizes the building’s opacity, with only the street-level entrance of kindergarten marking a difference, which then makes the pavement leading to the entrance wider.

The whole building is built from white concrete with continuous vertical joint, and a series of lattice windows also in concrete suggest transparency between the work rooms and the corridors.

Quality interior images of some of Aldo van Eyck’s and Hetzberger’s buildings inspired our design.