Smíchov School

Living in a city is about living in a community, and to do so we must learn to take care of each other and our common environment. An urban school should foster social and environmental stewardship amongst the students and be a community hub that interacts with its unique urban context. The design is conceived as a simple built framework that provides students with a diversity of opportunities to engage with the world around them.

The authors have met to the highest degree the requirements of the competition and fulfilled the jury’s expectations. The jury appreciates, in particular, the optimally designed orientation of the building, the clean and simple organization of the layout and construction, the connection with the surrounding public space, as well as with the school grounds. This proposal is the best scheme of circulation and orientation for pupils, teachers and the public in the building. It cleverly combines clusters, corridors, and open spaces. Authors’ thinking about the interior space and the construction system allows for flexibility for future modifications and possible changes that are inherent in school operation. The jury further appreciates the authors’ response to the comments given in the first phase of the competition, whose successful incorporation led to a significant shift and fulfillment of the potential that the jury saw in this proposal in the first phase. The proposed balconies, which should serve as a supplement to the classes, are debatable, especially in relation to traditional teaching. It is unlikely that they will be used during teaching or leisure time, and can also limit classroom daylight illumination when having incorrectly selected materials and dimensions. The jury expects to see these balconies adequately modified with the development of the project. Changes will be probably due also in the wooden structure, which will have to be more massive or re-evaluated. From the point of view of fulfilling all the evaluation criteria set out in the competition conditions, the proposal seems to be the most optimal. From the point of view of the energy concept and investment and operating costs, the proposal, just like the other proposals, presented only an idea of the functioning and a simple scheme that will need to be further elaborated. The jury assumes that when finalizing in cooperation with the announcer and according to their remarks, the proposal has a very good possibility of adaptability without disturbing the successful concept.

Introducing the modern civic palace of education and games, firmly rooted in the urban grid of new Smíchov. With its arrangement and synergies with the Elementary School of Arts, it will become the center of a new community. The design works with a balanced proportion of contrasts. The compact block of the school is interrupted by a large entry space, which refers to the building to the surrounding landmarks. The strict and dignified building conceals a lively inner world of diversity and playfulness. The lower open mass also meant for the public, is complemented by the upper enclosed ring of classrooms.

The design has met the requirements of the competition and fulfilled the jury’s expectations to a very high degree. The design offers a very strong connection with the public space of the city. The urban approach is very complex and beneficial to its surroundings and is trying to offer new opportunities to use the school building. The jury appreciates the generosity of classroom sizes and the attempts to rationalize the interior space. The jury in the first phase appreciated the conservative approach as one of the solutions for school operation in combination with a more courageous volumetric concept. This form of “open city fortress” can be a response to the question of the nature of modern school institutions and can play the role of a local community symbol. However, the proposal did not develop much between the 1st and 2nd phases and did not convincingly fulfill this potential of conservative yet generous primary school. In the opinion of the jury, the most impediment to the design is the not intuitive circulation and orientation in the building for teachers, the public and pupils, which is most evident in the location of vertical communications. Similarly, the layout of the internal courtyard with an outdoor staircase system, the use of which, with regard to the security of entry to the building and the constant supervision of the pupils, is also not quite clear. Consistent adherence to the tectonic nature of the facade is in contradiction with the volumetric solution that aims for the lightness of the building’s expression. The jury considers the position of the athletic oval on the roof of a school, which allows more free use of the school grounds, on the one hand, the benefit of the proposal, but on the other hand, the jury was not convinced of its functionality – especially with regard to the lack of shadow, sport and maintenance facilities and the impossibility of placing a considerable number of the necessary technologies, or at least their outlets on the roof of a school building. From the point of view of fulfilling all the evaluation criteria set out in the competition conditions, the proposal seems to be the second most optimal. From the point of view of the energy concept and investment and operating costs, the proposal, just like the other proposals, presented only an idea of the functioning and a simple scheme that will need to be further elaborated. The jury assumes that when completing the announcer’s suggestions, the proposal has a good chance to achieve user-friendliness without seriously disrupting the concept.

The project relies on 2 design directives. The building envelope maximizes its available footprint keeping its alignment with the pedestrian street and the park to the north. Nevertheless, the envelope presents a more open school character through openings to north and south directions. The openings are dedicated to the main common activities: the library and the sports hall to the north and break out spaces and terrace areas to the south. The ground floor is highly permeable integrating the school to the surroundings.

The design has met the requirements of the assignment and the jury to a high degree. The authors of the proposal presented a radical solution with a strong view of how the building should react in volume and expression to its surroundings. The proposal offers a very rational approach to hierarchizing spaces with regard to the “public / non-public” and with regard to contact with the surrounding city. According to the jury, the proposal itself is quite strict (too sterile), which does not entirely correspond to the idea of a targeted character of primary school, but rather corresponds to the concept of secondary school or college. The jury appreciates the more courageous concept of the shape of a building, the shape of which creates a system of spaces and places while maintaining a rational internal arrangement and program. However, this concept carries with it a low degree of flexibility. Compared to other prize-winning designs, the authors presented a more schematic solution of the facades, which after the completion of the project could significantly change the overall figure of the school. The shading of the building, and especially the ratio of the glazed and non-glazed areas of the facade, is considered to be unclear by the jury. From the point of view of fulfilling all the evaluation criteria set out in the competition conditions, the proposal appears to be optimal. From the point of view of the energy concept and investment and operating costs, the proposal, just like the other proposals, presented only an idea of the functioning and a simple scheme that will need to be further elaborated. The jury assumes that the proposal may have a good chance of achieving a user-friendly form, without significantly disrupting the concept, until after a major elaboration according to the announcer’s comments.

Future city district counts with block building cut through a pedestrian boulevard, which opens into parks in the heart of the area. Here is situated the plot for school which calls for a public investment adequate to its significance. The compact house with covered ground floor brings new quality into the public space. The ground floor serving the public as well as to the education as well as links the school with the city socially. The interior is connected with the surrounding area through the roof terrace and outdoor galleries. By designing the campus we are creating a welcoming whole that will contribute to the development of the community life of the new district with the assumption of economic operation.

The jury appreciated the clear and understandable system of school functioning. The possibility of future modifications is a positive feature of this proposal, as the chosen simple typology can be further developed. In the opinion of the jury, the design has achieved a functional interconnection of public spaces and school, but the individual floors and school levels communicate in a relatively weak way. The authors work with a relatively strict separation of “worlds” of the first and second levels (two entrances, two stairs, delegated floors), which are at the end connected by atriums accompanied by a number of questions, especially by acoustic and operational complications. The proposed form of a building with longitudinal terraces around its entire perimeter, which should serve as a supplement to the classes, is questionable in particular in relation to the operation of the school. It is unlikely that they will be used for teaching or leisure, and can also limit classroom daylight illumination when having incorrectly selected materials and dimensions. From the point of view of fulfilling all the evaluation criteria set out in the competition conditions, this proposal does not achieve the quality of the prize-winning proposals. From the point of view of the energy concept and investment and operating costs, the proposal, just like the rest of the others, presented only an idea of functioning and a simple scheme that would have to be further elaborated.

School by Play, Orbis Pictus, Labyrinth of the World and Paradise of the Heart; some of the most well-known works by Jan Ámos Komenský, which set the base for the modern pedagogy. Inspired by his innovative way of thinking, we believe only contemporary architecture can serve contemporary education. Beyond a school, the new Smíchov will represent Prague’s new educational beacon.

The jury considered promising the chosen original form of the building. Although the school, by placing a generously-sized main entrance for pupils, “turns its back” to the public area of the pedestrian zone, it has offered at least a secondary entrance for the after-school care and for the public to the social and sports part of the school directly from the pedestrian zone. The volumetric solution also brought patio terraces where pupils could safely spend their free time. The form of the proposal represented a strong potential for the jury in the first phase. In the second phase, however, the authors did not submit a proposal that would adequately reflect the jury’s comments and recommendations and the form of the building did not bring the expected benefit to the school’s internal solution. The communication cores along with the limit-sized corridors are not entirely convincing for the jury and do not contribute to a simple orientation and circulation of pupils, teachers and the public in the building. From the point of view of the energy concept, investment and operating costs and demands for the necessary technical equipment, the proposal is underestimated in the opinion of the jury (lack of areas for kitchen facility, technologies, and storage). Also unconvincing is the location and size of the building’s communication and technology cores. In terms of meeting all the evaluation criteria set out in the competition conditions, it does not achieve the quality of the prize-winning proposals.

Labyrinth of the World and Paradise of the Mind New school in the heart of the modern district Smichov City occupies a privileged position on the main pedestrian boulevard with access from the park axis. The building complements the urban structure with the typical shape of a compact block with an interior courtyard. Nevertheless, it does not close itself, but it communicates with the surrounding by the system of exterior educational terraces not only visually but also functionally. Traditional volume is transcripted into contemporary functional conception, which reflects the modern needs of education through its diversity, stimulation, and adaptability.

The design brings a generous entry hall – an internal “public” space. School building urbanistically fits into its surroundings, and its overall expression generates a sense of belonging to the community. In the opinion of the jury, another positive aspect is the creation of an adequate, visible main entrance and a common terrace where pupils can safely spend their free time. The division of the first and second levels is clear and legible. However, the organization of the spatial program does not create sufficiently strong links between the priority functions and the desirable interconnection of the school’s internal and external operations. Orientation and circulation in the building can be difficult (even confusing) for teachers, the public and pupils – especially when the pupil’s main movement between lessons, leisure, and sports is guided through three different interior stairways and corridors, or through outdoor terraces and spiral staircases. This complicated solution demonstrates, according to the jury, a lack of understanding of the operation of the school. From the point of view of fulfilling all the evaluation criteria set out in the competition conditions, this proposal does not achieve the quality of the prize-winning proposals. From the point of view of the energy concept and investment and operating costs, as well as others, he presented only an idea of functioning and a simple scheme that would have to be further elaborated.