Acacia School

We designed and built a unique Secondary School located in a unique urban environment of Madrid, Spain with architecture from the 60s, green spaces, 4 and 5-storey open-block houses and semi-detached houses.

The massing of the building is defined by two frontages facing the main street: the main one to the north and the secondary one to the south. The primary building access is strategically located at the intersection of the two main avenues. The library, conference room and sports centre can be accessed separately from a secondary access to the south, allowing access to the public outside of school hours. A green roof is proposed in the north end of the building that compensates the natural spaces taken by the footprint of the building.

The main frontage is formed by a large podium which runs the entire length of the plot and covers the library volume. This podium, due to its horizontality, reinforces the topographic character of the plot and acts as the backbone of the common and educational spaces.

The second urban front is completed with the volume of the Sports Centre, which acts as a neutral massing that is spatially linked to the rest of the school and which is accessed independently from the main Avenue.

Taking into consideration that the location of the building takes place in the main green area of the residential area, the challenge is to implement a proposal which visual and volumetric impact respects the environment while corresponding to its urban and educational function.

The two fronts towards the two main streets is key in the configuration of the building closing it towards the traffic whilst opening it towards the park in the form of “fingers” where the classrooms are located