ProjectsPaliano Music School

We envisioned a highly innovative building model for an education complex when submitting a proposal for a competition for the new school complex in Sette Fontane, municipality of Paliano (FR).⁠ ⁠

A school where students can grow intellectually and physically within spaces tailored to them, flexible and stimulating.⁠

Taking its cue from the school’s musical orientation, the architectural concept is inspired by the sound wave, with two wave-shaped volumes make up the ground floor, suggesting and orienting the main paths. ⁠

Above the two organic ribbons lies a square shaped enclosing volume, which draws inspiration from the lines of the staff of the musical score, and which houses two volumes: one the didactic spaces of the primary school and the other those of the secondary school of first degree.⁠

Date 2021

State Competition, 3rd Place Finalist

Location Paliano, Italy

Category Education

The concept in our  Paliano School proposal aims to provide an alternative image of school, in contrast to severity and rigidity that school buildings usually seem to suggest.⁠

The wave, with its light and sinuous movement, invites you to enter a welcoming and open space. The upper volume seems to rest only on the waves that characterise the volumes of the ground floor where the transparencies create a strong interconnection between the internal and external spaces, between artifice and nature.⁠

All the rooms, both on the ground floor and on the first floor, open outwards through large windows, while inwards they overlook the central space, the heart of the building: the agora.⁠

The double-height atrium (‘agora’) is the meeting point between the organic spaces on the ground floor and the more rational ones on the first floor. ⁠

A multipurpose space is created through the connection between the two levels of the school.⁠

The two wave-shaped volumes on the ground floor are parallel but not aligned in length: one wave accompanies students from the street to the entrance, welcoming most of the collective functions, places of sharing and meeting suitable for the use of the local community. ⁠

Another wave creates the connection with the spaces for sports activities, directing the pedestrian flow towards the gym, in turn connected to the adjacent sports facilities. ⁠

Screenshot 2021-10-16 at 17.14.36

Natural light was used as a fundamental element and material of the project thanks to the natural luminance flowing from the skylights of the roof or in the central patio, like windows open to the sky.⁠⁠

Large glassed surfaces also create the visual connection of spaces with the large outdoor arena and the garden roof. ⁠

The ‘topping’ square-shaped volume remains connected both visually and functionally to the agora and to the collective functions, enjoying the best conditions of natural light thanks to the multiple exposures. ⁠

Natural light was used as a fundamental element and material of the project thanks to the natural luminance flowing from the skylights of the roof or in the central patio, like windows open to the sky.⁠

Large glassed surfaces also create the visual connection of spaces with the large outdoor arena and the garden roof. ⁠

The ‘topping’ square-shaped volume remains connected both visually and functionally to the agora and to the collective functions, enjoying the best conditions of natural light thanks to the multiple exposures. ⁠

The orientation of the built volume guarantees the teaching areas optimal exposure. The deciduous trees, inherent in the pedestrian areas, and the proximity to the public garden, will contribute to the containment of overheating in the summer.⁠

As well as the use of light colors for the surfaces of the building envelope and the planned external flooring, it will help to limit the formation of heat islands in the urban area of insertion.⁠

The idea that characterises the coverage of the two “ribbon” volumes on the ground floor was used also for the custom furnishings, on a reduced scale for  the internal and external areas.⁠

Custom Made Furniture

One of the unique solutions that we’ve integrated in the school proposal are the modular custom made furnishings.⁠

The idea of the wave that characterises the coverage of the two “ribbon” volumes on the ground floor was used, on a reduced scale for the furnishings of the internal and external areas.⁠

With modular logic in mind these composable elements give the possibility of generating flexible spaces in line with the different phases of teaching: group activities, individual spaces and moments for study, reading and relaxation. ⁠

These furnishings allow a personalisation of the didactic paths allowing teachers the possibility to adapt the physical space according to the didactic strategies and the type of planned activity.⁠

The project is an element of innovation and integration with the context. ⁠

The school building we’ve envisioned is part of an educational continuum and is not as an autonomous entity. With its organic approach and careful integration into the landscape, the new school complex becomes a landmark that creates identity and recognition for the local community which can enjoy a new urban and social reference⁠.⁠

Sustainability

The sustainability design of the building was thought of as a bioclimatic machine capable of maximising the passive contributions of solar energy, both in summer and in winter. ⁠

The mechanical ventilation system integrated with the natural one, even at night (when the structure will be cooled), will allow the dissipation of the heat accumulated by the building in the hours of irradiation, thus obtaining a significant reduction in energy requirements.⁠

In the winter season, the sun will penetrate through the windows thanks to the low angle of it’s rays and will donate a thermal benefit (as well as natural brightness), while in the summer season, angle being more tending towards perpendicular, it will be blocked by the the sunshades (brise soleil front), and the leaves, to avoid overheating the spaces.⁠

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