Molenwiek school

The existing elementary school Dalton Molenwiek in Haarlem dates from 1975 and was built by architect Wiek Röling. A temporary extension was added in the 1990’s. In the near future the number of students will grow significantly and the current extension does not longer fulfil the wishes of the school. The existing building was very much designed from the perspective of the interior, very characteristic for these kind of schools dating from the 80’s. The exterior has therefore a very undefined shape and an entrance of a building that is very hard to find from the street.

The extension of the school, with space for extra classes, a library and workplaces is designed as a rectangular frame around the existing building. The school will get a strong urban presence in the neighbourhood characterised by big building blocks. Some of the new functions will also be used as by people from the neighbourhood and have also a direct entrance from the street. Because of these functions, the school will also function as a new community centre. In between the existing building and the extension new patio’s and gardens will be formed. Every group of students will share one patio for outdoor classes or as a communal playground.