The brief is for a school of 1600 pupils in Amsterdam. Its spatial design is rooted in the theory of Gilles Deleuze, who in his celebrated text Postscripts on the Societies of Control calls for new models of education to bridge the gap between education, work and the local community. On the other hand the project offers an alternative to the specifically Dutch problem of schools for pre-vocational secondary education (VMBO) with predominantly minority ethnic pupils. The physical separation between VMBO schools and schools for senior general secondary education (HAVO) and pre-university education (VWO) is an impediment to integrating minority ethnic students into Dutch culture.

Spatially, I have sought the solution in a secondary school consisting of a 'campus' of buildings. Education is organized by age and profile in four built clusters: an alpha building for classically inclined pupils, a beta building for technically inclined pupils, a general educational building and a 'youngsters' building. This set-up is intended to further the interaction between the different groups of pupils. VWO, HAVO and VMBO are still separate tracks, each with its own curriculum. The major deviation from current practice is that all pupils following the classical languages track (the 'alphas') share a building, as do the technically minded 'betas' and the youngest pupils. This way, pupils get to meet others from a different background, between classes and during sports and theatrical activities. Not only that, the ground floor of each building is set aside as the pupils' own territory, while pupils on the higher-lying floors have plenty of opportunities to appropriate spaces for themselves. The project creates opportunities for informal encounters and interaction and maybe even friendships, regardless of one's score in the primary school transfer test.

Each building has its own unique spatial logic dictated by the cores' arrangement in strips, so that the width of the hall and the proportions of the workplaces are related. The enormous cores also stabilize the buildings and house all the school's supportive services. Series of atriums are strung throughout the school, some of them open, others closed to form gigantic roof lights. Classrooms can be made bigger or smaller at will. Their capacity to adapt makes them key to the quality of the interior space and the flexibility required of it. The facade is a luminous, breathing, structural shell for the school as a whole. Comprising a series of large slats held in a supportive framework of slender columns, it houses the requisite structural and climate control facilities. This school has a learning environment that is sophisticated as well as comfortable.

Place of education: TU Delft | Specialization: architecture | Tutors: Tony Fretton, Mechthild Stuhlmacher, Ronald Janssen, Sjap Holst, Mark Pimlott