Tienen - Tienen – PSBO De Sterretjes

The new school for special education ‘PSBO De Sterretjes’ in Tienen makes real a mark on its environment. By adding a clear and thoughtful volume to the formerly empty plot, the school aspires to create a positive densification in the center of Tienen. As the site is located on an internal area surrounded by houses, it was a real challenge to implement a public program here.

B-ILD succeeded in carrying out the public character of the school, whilst also creating a specific and intimate world where the children could feel secure and stimulated.

The PSBO building emphasizes its welcoming character by treating the adjacent space to the school as a public space. From hereon, a landscape of open connected spaces goes through the building, defining the outspoken concept and structure of the school. The arms of the H-shaped volume embrace these active open spaces, which make for a building that is focused on itself. Because of this, the students have the sense of feeling secure and the living environment surrounding the school is protected from the school activities. To minimize its presence in height, the volume of the building is extended over the complete the full length of the site.

Flexibility and simplicity of building are the two cornerstones that have defined the configuration of the PSBO Building. The playgrounds and the sports hall form the spine of the building. The sports hall is conceived as an atrium that is visually and programmatically connected to the public functions, including a polyvalent hall. This makes for a flexible whole to lease. By providing this public inner space to its environment, the building shows a generosity.

The different open spaces are connected to a landscape of playgrounds for the children of PSBO Building. This open and visually comprehensible structure makes it easy for the children to browse through the building. The transparency of the central circulation zone creates a sense of space that adds value to the experience and use of the building. Because the sports hall is part of the compact volume of the building, the addition of energy will be limited. The open spaces and atriums are financially feasible by an intelligent double use of functions.

The new school for special education ‘PSBO De Sterretjes’ in Tienen makes real a mark on its environment. By adding a clear and thoughtful volume to the formerly empty plot, the school aspires to create a positive densification in the center of Tienen. As the site is located on an internal area surrounded by houses, it was a real challenge to implement a public program here.

B-ILD succeeded in carrying out the public character of the school, whilst also creating a specific and intimate world where the children could feel secure and stimulated.

The PSBO building emphasizes its welcoming character by treating the adjacent space to the school as a public space. From hereon, a landscape of open connected spaces goes through the building, defining the outspoken concept and structure of the school. The arms of the H-shaped volume embrace these active open spaces, which make for a building that is focused on itself. Because of this, the students have the sense of feeling secure and the living environment surrounding the school is protected from the school activities. To minimize its presence in height, the volume of the building is extended over the complete the full length of the site.

Flexibility and simplicity of building are the two cornerstones that have defined the configuration of the PSBO Building. The playgrounds and the sports hall form the spine of the building. The sports hall is conceived as an atrium that is visually and programmatically connected to the public functions, including a polyvalent hall. This makes for a flexible whole to lease. By providing this public inner space to its environment, the building shows a generosity.

The different open spaces are connected to a landscape of playgrounds for the children of PSBO Building. This open and visually comprehensible structure makes it easy for the children to browse through the building. The transparency of the central circulation zone creates a sense of space that adds value to the experience and use of the building. Because the sports hall is part of the compact volume of the building, the addition of energy will be limited. The open spaces and atriums are financially feasible by an intelligent double use of functions.

As a school governing body, the Provincial authorities of Flemish Brabant endeavour to offer high-quality education in its 4 provincial schools in Tienen and Leuven. The provincial authorities attach a great deal of importance to good school infrastructure that responds sufficiently to the needs of the pupils/students.

This brief concerns a new building for PSBO De Sterretjes, a special needs primary school in Tienen. It is currently housed in a temporary container school and needs a new school building. It is a school for about 100 pupils of type 1 (slightly mentally disabled) and type 8 (pupils with a serious learning disorder). The school endeavours to enable these pupils to develop their talents to the full.

Considering the school’s target group, it is recommended that the grounds of the school form a safe cocoon. The pupils should in the first place feel at home in the school. They must be given the greatest possible chance to develop in a safe setting and a clear structure. The attention to pupil guidance and learning care must be extended into the school infrastructure, for example by creating time-out areas and specially-adapted rooms. It is also important that on the basis of this setting the school should provide sufficient shelter from the outside world.

The new school building should be one that can be used for as many different purposes as possible. To keep up with rapidly-changing trends in society and educational views and methods, the building should be able to respond easily to possible changes.

The site is completely enclosed and only accessible via the PISO (Provincial Institute for Secondary Education). The site has a considerable slope, with a height difference of more than 4 metres diagonally, and there is also a notable height difference with regard to the existing ground level of the PISO and the firebreak. The design brief consequently includes the full accessibility and connection of the school building to the public highway.

When the site was purchased it included the demand that a permanent pedestrian pathway would be created from the public road (Alexianenweg) to the enclosed plot at the rear of the site belonging to the previous owner.

This pathway must be guaranteed without interruption, for pedestrians but not for motorised two-wheelers. The brief also includes a proposal for the design of the grounds, which are integrated into the accessibility plan.

The candidate will endeavour, within the available budget, to design the most sustainable building possible in compliance with current legislation.

Overall fee: 9% of the total building costs (school)

Overall fee: 5% of the total cost of the grounds