international school of zanzibar

multipurpose hall
zanzibar 2014

 

 

The project consists in finishing an existing hall located in the property of the International School of Zanzibar. Already used for different activities, the new construction should provide more flexibility of this empty space for both the students and staff of the school as well as the outsiders.
Located at the edge of the property, the new construction should contribute to develop a stronger identity to the school, to improve the daily life of the students and to enhance the connection with the neighbours by offering a useful place for associations, meetings, various events or even additional class-rooms for closed-by schools.

The existing building is preserved as much as possible and the existing structural frame is used to develop the new walls.

The concept of the project places a particular attention on the choice of the material used for the construction considering its properties as both esthetical and technical values. One specific element, a molded brick, is repeated in order to shape the enveloppe creating different patterns on the fa- cade. From this smple principle, variations are added to the facade according the space in between the bricks and create from this game a natural ventilation to the indoors space. Three diferent bricks are created with a progressively shorter lenght.

As a simple technical strategy, through these multiple holes, two layers of bricks are created in order to capture the hot air and lead it up to the top of the building to cool the inside space. In addition of its insulation function, the relief created by the superposition of the bricks will also minimize the pro- pagation of the sound indoors.

The porosity of each portion of walls will also create an interesting illumination during night making the all building functionning as a lantern, a benchmark recognizable from the surroundings.