New Nursery School La Teixonera
Contest 2nd PRIZE

The resulting building establishes a link with the existing Civic Center and offers a large and peaceful public square that can accommodate the social life of users and neighbors, and access to the Day Care Center. The Herta Frankel square will remain in its current location as a new access and space linked to the Civic Center.

The resulting volumetry is raised perpendicular to the street so as to achieve a certain permeability between the city and the green space inside the block as well as a good orientation of the program pieces, which allows orienting the classrooms to the morning sun, achieve sunny courtyards all year round and create a visual permeability between the street and the gardens and the Sierra de Collserola, in addition to isolating the noise from the street (remember that it is a street with an upward slope and vehicles, especially buses, have a special impact). The fragmented approach of the building also improves the presence of the new center in front of the existing community of neighbors.

The resulting building adapts to the existing topography in both directions, north-south and west-east. This fragmentation and topographic adaptation allows the volumetry to open up, for the most part, towards the courtyards and free up distant views of the school’s classrooms.

The school is developed on two levels: the ground floor, through which the main access occurs, and the first floor, with access to the private outdoor space.

The sloping areas are landed to make them accessible and are divided into two zones; one part is related to the last ones of the Civic Center, the escalator and the civic square and allow to host again the existing urban orchards. The other is linked to the Hogar and is provided with vegetation and various pavements creating gardens at different levels and complementary to the school playgrounds.

The main access from the Herta Frankel square to all the proposed programs of uses is through an outdoor porch, which can operate with a specific schedule; this space makes the uses more flexible and favors the concentration and socialization of the user. The program of uses of the family space is linked to the plaza so that it can be used in an independent time slot.

A secondary, independent access is located for the kitchen and services, which connects the first floor at ground level with the street. From the southeast end of the first floor courtyard, there is an emergency exit to the street. The levels of the topography of the unbuilt site are adjusted to connect at the northeast end with the landing of the stairs of the C. de Can Besora.