A prominent exterior staircase winds above the perforated metal facade of the tThe Lucila Rubio de Laverde School in Bogota, Colombia, designed by Peruvian practice Nómena Arquitectura.
The school is located near the Jaboque wetlands in the Engativa region Part of the Mayor of Bogotá’s program to create 35 new public schools within walking distance of slums.
To mediate between the adjacent road and the surrounding high-rise buildings, Nómena Arquitectura combined a secluded brick-clad form with a narrow six-storey building protected by screens of perforated metal that control ventilation and light.
While the longer building contains classrooms intended for use by the school only, the halls, dining hall and sports facilities in the lower two-storey building are designed to be usable by the local community outside school hours.
“The design reflects a commitment to providing accessible education and a flexible built environment that adapts to the needs of the community,” the studio explained.
“The monastery forms an active and porous edge that provides part of the program for use by the residents of the area, in favor of an integrative experience of public space and architecture with the community,” he added.
Large concrete stairs that serve as seating spaces connect the school’s two podium levels, each organized around a sports field overlooking the cafeteria and surrounding event spaces.
The entrance is separated from the road by an outdoor courtyard that can be connected to the school yard through a series of sliding glass doors.
Fjcstudio envelops the Sydney School in a perforated aluminum facade
In the larger building, classrooms lining the northern edge are connected by an open corridor and are divided by the introduction of double-height atriums with full-height glazed areas and balconies overlooking the Bogotá River.
This block is traversed via a prominent external staircase shaded by black metal bars, which connects the spaces reserved for younger children on the lower floors with those reserved for older children above.
Facing the river, the block presents a red brick facade interrupted by ribbon windows and school arcades, while overlooking the central cloister, the building is finished in perforated metal that creates a translucent effect.
“This element was proposed as a transparent volume, incorporating double-height intermediate spaces and transparent internal levels that allow the classrooms to extend into spaces without a specific use,” the studio explained.
“The interior façade uses micro-perforated metal panels to ensure ventilation and bring light inside in a controlled way without losing transparency,” she added.
Other recently completed projects in Bogota include the first pair of skyscrapers by the late British architect Richard Rogers, designed in the distinctive high-tech style he helped create in the 1970s.
The photographer is Jairo Llano.
