Multi-functional School Hoograven

Bolidt News

Multi-functional School Hoograven

A new sustainable school building has sprung up in the post-war Utrecht neighbourhood of Hoograven. VVKH Architects designed a complex of buildings to house three primary schools, a day care centre, an after school care facility and two gyms. All arranged around the central ‘village square’, each building of the Multi-functional School was given its own character and colour.

Roman border across the ‘village square’

In the common entrance hall, featuring a large sunken theatre and adjacent play rooms, the eye is immediately drawn to a grey line on the floor. Rather than a visual embellishment by VVKH Architects, it is a conscious reference to the history of the school’s location: the Roman border that used to run right through Utrecht and Hoograven. This limes once formed a busy trade route and an opportunity for natives to meet Roman soldiers and their families. A place to form connections.

Ground-breaking design from the Bolidroom

To find a way of incorporating the historical line into the floor, VVKH Architects collaborated with the Bolidroom, Bolidt’s design lab.

This enabled the architectural team to literally shape their ideas and to materialise the limes in the corridors of the Multi-functional School. Clearly visible and, at the same time, seamlessly integrated into the green floor of the high foot traffic central space.

Every floor its own colour

Based on their separate (educational) visions, the three primary schools, the day care centre, the after school facility, the play rooms, the meeting rooms and the gyms were all given an individual identity. Each building, each space shows its colours, in part thanks to Bolidtop^® 525. This Bolidt flooring system offers an endless range of colour options, so that the aesthetic wishes of both users and architect could be accommodated without difficulty. From sunny yellow to calming green and from dynamic red to spacious white.

The matt surface and uniform colour create a clear, calm and orderly environment. The visco-elastic nature of the flooring material also makes it comfortable to walk on, wear resistant and reduces impact noise. This provides the children with the peace and quiet they need to concentrate on their work, but also allows them to laugh, run and play freely. In Hoograven, it is a joy to go to school each day.