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Entwurf • Design Gradolí & Sanz, ES-Valencia
Bauherr • Client Zubi Real State SL
Standort • Location C. Melissa 46, Lloma Llarga, ES-Paterna
Nutzfläche • Floor space 1.842 m 2
Fotos • Photos Mariela Apollonio, ES-Valencia
Mehr Infos auf Seite • More info on page 134
MONTESSORI SCHOOL
IN PATERNA
With the Montessori School in the municipality of Pa-
terna in the province of Valencia, Gradolí & Sanz Arqui-
tectos have designed an organism whose architecture
gives the free, self-determined learning of Montessori pe-
dagogics form, atmosphere and expression. The school
liked with nature stands on a site for public-service buil-
dings between homes and a grove with a ravine.
A rriving at school every morning can hardly be any more idyllic and
any more relaxed: The students of the Imagine Montessori School
in Paterna get to their school by passing through a pine grove and over
wooden walkways which cross a gorge. When taking their children there
and picking them up again, parents are able to pause amidst the
greenery. This school looks like a grown organism. Rough bricks and co-
niferous wood characterize the architecture and the atmosphere. The
shell and the finishing are identical; construction methods, combinati-
ons and the structure of the materials, all their irregularities, are clearly
visible. The building is the first didactic material of the school, the archi-
tects claim. The ecological footprint is to be restricted as much as possi-
ble. The S-shaped layout produces two squares, the entrance square in
the west and the playground in the east. Ten classrooms arranged on
two storeys open fan-like towards the ravine and the grove – nature is
omnipresent. On the lower level, the rooms have brickwork vaulted cei-
lings; on the upper level, there are wooden ceilings. Each classroom area
Grundriss Erdgeschoss • Ground floor plan is divided into five zones for learning opportunities which are based on
the pedagogics of the Italian physician, pedagogue and philosopher
Maria Montessori (1870 – 1952). In line with her credo: “Help me to do it
myself”, the children are animated to sensory experiences, practical
exercises, languages, mathematics and culture. Each classroom is com-
plemented with a covered terrace; on the ground floor, so is a sitting
area. With their nooks and crannies, niches, stairs, open spaces as well
as balconies, the spacious “foyers” of the classrooms – anything but hall-
ways – serve as meeting points, play- and learning areas. Everywhere
there are zones which are adapted to the sizes and the needs of the chil-
dren: windows at floor height, niches under the stairs … Trellises pro-
duce a second green layer in front of the façade; the roofs are planted.
The play- and garden areas have been designed like natural spaces as a
continuation of the wild scenery. There is a lot to discover: roots, trunks,
branches, leaves, wild mushrooms … and the topography is used for
Längsschnitte • Longitudinal sections building ramps, slides, stairs, climbing walls and caves.
AIT 5.2022 • 091
