Discovering the richness of our immediate surroundings is the first step in learning about the world. The school is integrated into local ecology. Inviting the forest and natural water management into the site creates a diversity of landscapes. The heart of the site becomes a node to explore this diversity: spaces to play, explore, exercise, gather, and learn. The school contains a variety of formal and informal, indoor and outdoor, spaces for learning organized around a shared commons.

The School of Jílovsko will serve residents of five neighbouring municipalities. This amalgamation will foster new relationships, promote educational excellence, and ensure equal access to high-quality education for all residents. The school will become a central hub for learning and community activity. It will provide a platform for students, parents, and educators from different towns to come together, exchange ideas, and collaborate on educational initiatives. This inclusive approach will create a rich, dynamic, and diverse learning environment, enriching the educational experience beyond Jílovsko.

A central node for the community

The school is centrally located on a public path between important public spaces. The school must embrace its role as a central node that connects residents.

The school site is surrounded by diversity of landscapes: the fields, patches of forest, Sirotčí strouha seasonal creek, the pond, and the Radlík village itself. It is at a connection of two ecological axis - the seasona creek of Sirotčí strouha and the local pond network. The school should act as an ecological connector for the local ecosystem.

Welcoming Local Landscapes

While large portions of the local landscape are used for agriculture, there remain fairly diverse biotopes in the region, from mixed forests to grasslands and wetlands. These biotopes, mapped below (from nature.cz information) can inform the types of landscapes that can come to coexist on site with the school. Based on research and local data, there had been sightings of over one hundred different species within a 2 km radius of the site. These included plants, fungi, birds, amphibians, mammals, reptiles, insects and arachnids. These species predominantly dwelled within riparian, grassland and forest ecosystems. With the proper site and planting strategy, the site itself can become an important connector for wildlife networks and regional ecosystems, allowing children to become stewards of the local ecology.

The site should welcome local landscape typologies, becoming a connector for larger regional networks and habitats: grasslands and wetlands, forests, and productive landscapes.

Four Units

The school is organized into four units. Each unit has a distinct programme, relationship to its context, morphology, height, and expression. Some units are taller than others. Some have accessible green roofs.

Unit 1 is tallest and contains all Tier II classrooms. Unit 2 is of middle height and contains all Tier I classrooms. Unit 3 contains pre-school and school administration. Unit 4 contains the gym.

Ground Floor Programme Distribution

On the ground floor the program is distrubuted into different wings. Kitchen and Cafeteria is in Unit 1. Afterschool and Library in Unit 2. Unit 3 contains pre-school and school administration. Unit 4 contains the gym.

The wings of the ground floor connect to the main hall in the centre.

Hierarchy of Spaces

On a typical floor, the programme is organized hierarchically. An atrium shared by the entire school is in the centre of the floorplate. Smaller common spaces, shared by a cluster of classrooms are accessed off of the atrium. Classrooms and other rooms are accessed from these smaller common spaces. Each common space opens onto a terrace.

Each cluster of classrooms contains the following: core classrooms for two grades, specialized classrooms and other rooms shared by an entire tier, washrooms, common spaces, and an outdoor space.

New School of Jilovsko

Painter’s Studio