The building of Coenecoop College in Waddinxveen is progressing, with completion scheduled around summer. ‘I have been inside the building for a moment recently,’ says rector Ivor Bergsma when we call him. ‘Here speaks a very happy headmaster, I can’t say otherwise’. The design facilitates the new education that Coenecoop has been offering for a few years now. It focuses on communication, assertiveness, cooperation and independence in addition to knowledge.
new building for new education
‘We already switched to new teaching but are currently still using a 1980s standard school building, with classrooms along long corridors. It is great to see that this will soon fall into place, the new building will seal that new method. We will have a lot of open space and fewer classrooms, different seating areas, high and low, non-standard solutions. You can already feel that it is a very pleasant place to be, spacious and light. The new multifunctional spaces are also in line with our new teaching method.’
noise, murmur, quiet
‘cepezed divided the building into zones with noise, murmur and quiet. This was not our specific request, but I am very pleased with it. The building is now finished to the point where you can actually imagine it. The atrium where the students enter and spend their breaks, is allowed to be noisy. In the passage to the concentration spaces the noise decreases into murmur. And where there is a learning atmosphere there is quietness. This supports us in the education we want to provide. The building facilitates our story.’
approachable
'I can only agree that cepezed considers communication to be an important aspect during the design and construction process. Communication was easily accessible and the architect of Coenecoop was always approachable. cepezed thinks along, even now they are still looking for solutions to our wishes. You sometimes hear of tension between clients and architects; where one finds use important and the other aesthetics. But at Coenecoop, that relationship was never tense. cepezed is far from rigid.'
beautiful
'The atrium will be a very beautiful part of the building: an impressively large, open space with a completely glass facade. In any case, the spatial layout of the building is beautiful. The large elements, such as the wooden podium staircase in the atrium, the spiral staircase from the first to the second floor and the counter are also beautiful. I am happy with the choice for bamboo.'
The exterior is pretty much finished, the interior is under construction at the moment. Completion is scheduled for this summer. The building will be in use in september.
Want to know more? View the project page Coenecoop College.
Space for new forms of learning in nearly completed Coenecoop College
