Brede School Hoge Veld

The neighborhood Hogeveld is arranged in a tight grid of orthogonal blocks on both sides of a wide tree-lined avenue. One of these blocks contains several facilities: two primary schools, a multi-functional center, a day-care center and a sports hall. The combined brief gave Mecanoo the opportunity to create an informal public space with a more freely designed ensemble within the grid. Each part of the ensemble is given a recognizable identity, set apart by situation, form and detailing, without breaking the unity of the whole. Row houses and an apartment building roughly define the rectangle?s straight border. Within the rectangle, carefully considered irregular kinks result in asymmetrical squares and cut-throughs. The facilities are distinct in their position, their location on the squares, their partial alignment with the tree-lined avenue and their materials. They also form a clearly recognizable ensemble with the use of Sahara sand-colored bricks of varying shapes and sizes.