Attending school in a woodland environment, where everything revolves around health and sustainability. Het Dok is a new comprehensive school that offers a safe place for people to enjoy learning and playing, where the nature outside reaches right into the classroom. Natural materials, fresh air and a lot of daylight were the main areas of focus in designing this school.
Playing in a safe environment The green inner courtyard is the heart of the school. It is a safe and fun play area where the very youngest children are free to run and play without concern. For the older children, a special play roof has been designed on a higher floor.
Nature reaches into the heart of the building Our idea was to make the natural green environment tangible within the school itself. The aim was to ensure that the areas within the school walls could be just as inspiring as the energy gained by the children in the inner courtyard. To achieve this, we created the façade completely out of glass and made all the inner areas connect to it. Of course, the material we used in the construction plays an important role in this. The entire school is built out of wood. This connects the children and teachers even more closely to the healthy influence of outdoor life.
A classroom full of fresh air Fresh air everywhere, but in a way that is energy-efficient. Together with Arup, our aim was to achieve a comfortable climate with less equipment. Natural ventilation through the façade feeds in fresh air that flows through the building via acoustic grids towards a central stairwell, where it is vented. As a result, no ventilation channels are needed, which saves on a significant amount of energy and materials.
On course for a healthy future A comfortable environment where pupils and teachers spend the whole day connected to their natural green surroundings. This was the basic principle behind the design of Het Dok comprehensive school. This brand-new building was completed in September 2014. A safe place where children can lay the foundations for a healthy future.
