Healthy learning environment envisioned for new Netherlands school

Tenderstream member cepezed has designed a nearly energy-neutral college in Waddinxveen, the Netherlands, with construction set to start in March 2022. HEVO, the project manager, has contracted three specialised contractors for Coenecoop College, which will host 950 students at the educations levels of vmbo (vocational and general secondary), havo (higher secondary) and vwo (pre-university). 

The college is intended to provide a healthy learning environment with an agreeable climate and good orientation options. Sight lines are long, with the greenery of the surrounding grounds extended throughout the atrium and the rest of the school. The walkways also contain substantial greenery, while the largely transparent facades contribute significantly to the relationship between the interior and exterior. 

For the main building, cepezed envisioned two rectangular, flexibly divisible educational volumes, each consisting of three layers, with a transparent central atrium situated between them. The volumes are slightly offset from each other, with a wooden pergola structure running alongside the building blocks to enhance the design’s visual unity.

The central atrium acts as a connecting link between the two educational volumes and creates its own dynamic environment, functioning as an entrance and an auditorium. A wooden staircase also doubles up in its use, providing a playful grandstand seating area for students. The atrium space can be rented out to the wider community at the evenings and weekends, contributing to the desired quality of the Coenecoop College as a 'school of the village'.

Lucy Nordberg
Tenderstream Head of Research

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