'De Driehoek' Primary School Bocholt


De Gouden Liniaal Architecten

De Driehoek Primary School, Bocholt view on the internal 'street' 1 (enlarged view in image gallery)
  • De Driehoek Primary School, Bocholt view on the internal 'street' 1
  • 'De Driehoek' Primary School, Bocholt view on the internal 'street' 2
  • De Driehoek Primary School, Bocholt entrance of the school building
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  • Status:

    Design

  • Education type:

    Free Subsidised Education

  • Education level:

    Primary Education (pre-school + primary)

  • Address:

    Kaulillerweg, 3950 Bocholt

  • Client:

    vzw. Katholiek Basisonderwijs Bocholt

  • Keywords:

    Low-energy building

  • Contest:

    Open Call 16

  • Programme:

    classrooms, administration, staffroom and multifunctional space

  • Area:

    4.300m2

  • Number of classrooms:

    primary school: 12 classrooms
    nursery school: 8 classrooms


New school building for a new educational concept

The ‘De Driehoek’ primary school currently has 150 children in the nursery school and approximately 250 primary school children. It would like to move from the outdated, rather uncomfortable school buildings. A new school building in a new location, which is also the centre of the community, meets the demands of a contemporary building which supports the innovative educational project of the school.
The location between the village centre and the open area around the adjacent Biotechnicum, the secondary school for biotechnical and agricultural education, determines the design to a great extent. To make the most of the site, the architects divided the design into two buildings: the primary school and the nursery school with the exercise hall. The position of the two buildings on the site means a school gate can be positioned between the two front elevations. The two volumes, together with the parish centre opposite, define a public school square in front of the school gate. This becomes a meeting place where children can be dropped off and picked up in an attractive setting and where activities continue after school hours.
Behind the school gate the buildings border the two playgrounds.

The building budget is limited and the client wants to build on a cost-conscious and energy-efficient basis. The design consists of compact structures. In the nursery school, all eight classrooms are arranged on the ground floor around a multifunctional space which also serves as the dining area. Daylight enters profusely through roof windows. There is great deal of storage space in the entrance area to every classroom next to the toilets. The multifunctional space looks into the adjacent exercise hall. For the primary school pupils it is useful that the exercise hall and the toilets can also be accessed from the playground.

The school has experience of a new educational approach in which the pupils in the fifth and sixth years also regularly work in streamed classes. This means that the pupils are divided into groups depending on their level in a particular subject. They are streamed per subject, within the same year. In future this is to be extended to other years, with an even more flexible approach to the timetabling. The aim is to abandon the ‘traditional’ division into age groups so that teachers can be used effectively for specific groups and tasks. In the primary school, linked classrooms are arranged on either side of a central interior ‘street’. Ten of the twelve classrooms are on the first floor. Groups of four classrooms are clustered around a broad landing which makes it possible to work with different classes in a sort of ‘learning square’. From the playground, the children have two ways of accessing the interior street and the staircases going up. On the ground floor the administration and the staffroom are located by the main entrance from the square. This means that the semi-public parts, such as the dining area with the kitchen and the area for creative activities, are also easily accessible for evening activities. Because of the compact volume, the building can achieve very low energy consumption levels. The design was also planned for playgroups during holiday periods. In addition, the building can easily be extended in the future.