Arada | Julio Picatoste

Like the plow that turns the soil, the San Roe Complex project plants the seed of the new cultural center of the Anglesola Palace. The Municipal Nursery and the Escola Arnau Berenguer will be the first facilities that, together with the Municipal Swimming Pools, will drive this new center. The new façade on Carrer de Merce Rodoreda folds into the joint between the two schools allowing the main access to the complex. A porch shades the promenade that vertebrates and connects the different facilities running transversely across the island. As the preliminary project rightly foresees, the Municipal Library becomes the heart of the complex, and extends to the educational centers through the agora. The large outdoor spaces fill the center of the island with activity and leisure.

From the access square, and through the transverse promenade, we reach a large lobby that articulates and distributes the various programs of the Arnau Berenguer School. This interior plaza optimizes the routes and links the extension with the existing buildings and outdoor spaces. Hosting the program in a single compact piece frees and organizes the plot, giving rise to 3 large courtyards. By resolving the northeast corner of the island, the independent secondary accesses of the AMPA and the library classroom are facilitated, making possible their extension. The careful relationship between orientation and program gives rise to kindergarten classrooms that extend into a protected exterior, and a two-story body where the primary classrooms are located. The modularity of the proposal, and the reservation of spaces, will facilitate the future expansion of the school.

Consistent with the collective responsibility that a school requires, the building has been designed to be respectful of the environment it occupies, both in its construction and in its useful life. Certified wood is used as the main construction material, considerably reducing the C02 footprint compared to other systems and eliminating on-site waste thanks to prefabrication and dry construction. The climate strategy of positive energy balance applied optimizes passive control measures and makes light and air management a structural element of the project. A photovoltaic energy production system is installed on the green roof to ensure the building's energy self-sufficiency. The proposal will adapt the existing buildings to the new criteria.