xystudio utilized intentional materials and a muted color palette for multiple thoughtful spaces for students at the Primary School in Wesola of Warsaw, Poland.

The story of the expansion of the school in Wesoła is actually the story of saving 20 beautiful, old trees. They were ruled much earlier, during the creation of the PFU. Our opposition to the location of this investment was quick and categorical. Being aware of the consequences of our decision, we firmly refused to implement this project in this particular place. However, we realized that the school needs to be expanded, we only need to look for a good solution. We went for a walk. Behind the school, we saw a 3-meter-long, shrubby earth embankment. The decision was made as quickly as the previous one. We pierce the shaft with a new wing. It gave us more room for action. We had more terrain at our disposal and we could convert the proposed small classes from the PFU guidelines to full-size ones. We decided to talk to the school principal about his and his students’ needs. It turned out that there is no classroom for grades 7-8 (closing of junior high schools), a sensory room and an individual therapy room. That there could be a bigger meeting room and a bathroom for the disabled. We got the green light. There was only one condition – stay within the budget. The planned 400 m2

600 m2 came out. On this area, we have designed a cloakroom, thematic laboratories with back-up facilities, language rooms, SI rooms and individual therapy rooms. The simple layout helped save space. The last art studio is open. In the older classes, art and music are only available once a week. We agreed with the headmaster that if the classes will be conducted once a week, the classroom will be open on other days. You can do your homework and work there. We added mobile walls, which made it possible to create additional rooms depending on the plan.

The school building is very simple. The greatest difficulty was determining the levels and connecting to the existing building. A school with integration classes must be available. Hence, the length of the connector and the level of the ground floor were determined by the length of the ramp for people with disabilities. To put it simply: a meter of soil has been removed from the ridge of the slope, the body of the building has been dug another meter, and the ramp covers another meter.

From the side of the entrance, on the already existing concrete square, there is a separate entrance for older children, a summer cinema with a screen on the blind wall of the old building and an auditorium on the rest of the slope was built. The trees that grew in the immediate vicinity of the building remained on the earlier levels, hence the small hills around. Children have ground level countertops, they can see the grass through the window. Part of the elevation is underground, and the rest is made of varnished trapezoidal sheet metal and natural wood. The money ran out, we finished the interior of the school ourselves, with the help of our friendly companies.

Design: xystudio
Design Team: Filip Domaszczyński, Marta Nowosielska, Dorota Sibińska, Anna Prałat
Photography: courtesy of xystudio