Studio Ramin Visch has designed a visually exciting interior treatment for the assembly hall of two schools, the Dr. Mollercollege and the Walewyc -Mavo, both in Waalwijk. The assembly hall links the main volumes of the two schools and is used by pupils of both.
Development of the brief
The concept for an artistic contribution to the assembly hall developed from an idea by the art management agency Kunst en Bedrijf-Gabi Prechtl (KB-GP). Gabi Prechtl advised the client to formulate an integral design brief for the assembly hall in which colour would play a significant part. It would be an opportunity to turn what was originally conceived as a plain white box into a colourful three-dimensional environment. An architectural application of colour to enhance the atmosphere, spatial perception, sense of scale and structure of the hall, was recommended.
Gabi Prechtl, the director and owner of Kunst en Bedrijf-Gabi Prechtl, described her thinking as follows. “We wanted to develop an assembly hall with a robust identity where social interaction between pupils would be paramount. The hall would become a social hot spot that harmoniously linked the two schools. Colour can have a valuable function in achieving this goal, although it is used in my view far less often than it could be as an integral means of designing a good architectural space. A successful colour concept depends on accurate spatial analysis as well as on insight into the potential effect of colour. That is why we sought out a designer who possesses these qualities and is capable of applying them to social functionality.”
Commissioning of Studio Ramin Visch
The KB-GP Agency therefore proposed engaging the design practice of Studio Ramin Visch. Visch’s work is noted for lucid concepts in which he is not afraid to make bold statements. He is fond of colour, broad lines and inventive solutions for specific functions. These principles come together in ostensibly simple designs.
In the Waalwijk schools project, he was asked to make a coherent design for the complex interior space of the multifunctional, dynamic assembly hall. The hall also serves as an entrance to the schools, thereby conducting traffic flows to both wings and the upper floors; it also houses all the lockers. For the assembly hall function, Visch had to allow for simultaneous use by 600 to 1,000 pupils. The hall also had to be suitable for various gatherings such as parent/teacher meetings, school plays and diploma award ceremonies.
Design
Ingredients
The general structure and functional layout of the hall was set in advance, but Visch was invited to devise a colour scheme for many of the materials specified in the building design. Details that required designer attention included:
• Colours of floor surfaces
• Colours of HPL Panels on staircases and parapets
• Paint for wall surfaces
• Paint for doors and frames
• Colour of theatre and counters (lunch counter, caretaker’s office, information desk)
• Colour of lockers
• Design and acquisition of furniture.
Brief
The position of the assembly hall in relation to the building as a whole generates a very high volume of activities and pupils. To deal with this, Visch began by dissecting the space with regard to its functions and utilization. This breakdown yielded usable categories of a social and visual nature. The atrium, for example, should be an attractive place for pupils to go to for various kinds of social interaction; a place to see and be seen, radiating a relaxing atmosphere with a sense of security and shelter. This aura should retain its potency regardless of whether the hall is empty or crowded with pupils. The image should be seductive but fresh, contemporary but timeless, and above all the hall should begin to feel like the real heart of the school building.
Colours
The brief made it possible to define zones with distinct identities, which could be made visible by the extensive use of colour. Visch went on to experiment with various colour schemes, although it was clear from the outset that a quiet but colourful pallette was appropriate. The result was a straightforward design in which the colours help structure the interior space. The first shell consists of the yellow parapets, which immediately catch the eye. A second shell consists of the blue walls behind them, which visually retreat due to the colour.
The galleries on all upper floors are coloured green, and the sunken plaza on the ground floor is pale blue. The block containing the information desk, the caretaker’s office, the lunch counter and the theatre is coloured orange. And finally pale blue staircases connect the whole space vertically like a pair of waterfalls. The two end walls and the sawtooth roof remain white.
The lockers which are present on every floor occupy considerable space. Visch integrated them almost invisibly into the design by giving them the same colour as the walls behind them – a simple but very effective solution.
Furniture
The next task was to provide the large numbers of pupils with somewhere to take breaks without impeding circulation. It was evident that a conventional arrangement of tables and chairs would form a spatial barricade, and it would in any case be impossible to meet the necessary capacity. It was therefore decided to make the galleries on the first and second storeys available to pupils during the break. This move immediately transformed the hall into a theatre-like space where the pupils can freely choose where to sit – in the shelter of the first or second balcony, or in the full spotlight on the ground floor plaza. Seating units in the form of long fixed benches, placed along the parapets, provide safe lookout posts. Exposed in the middle of the plaza, similar benches are strewn at random like Mikado sticks. The color finish of the furniture provides a restful complement to the rest of the colour scheme.
Collaboration
A temporary working committee was established for development of the artistic brief, with members from the school, the architecture office, the agent and the designer himself. Visch’s design process proceeded in continual dialogue with this committee. An unusual aspect of the project was the possibility of awarding a partial commission to Studio Ramin Visch for the assembly hall, within the overall architectural design project of RoosRos Architecten.
Hans Roest of RoosRos Architecten commented: “Our architecture office often collaborates with interior architects and artists on the designs, although this is the first time there has been such a big part-project, with a crucial visual impact on the interior. We remained closely involved, of course but it was a bit unnerving to find ourselves farming out a large part of the project. Still, there was plenty of room for feedback and mutual inspiration during the process – and we are proud of the eventual result.”
Ramin Visch stated: “It was a very satisfying task for me to make the assembly hall’s implicit architecture explicit by the use of colour. I tried to do that as quietly as possible because the whole architecture of the hall is about light and the spatial experience. This was an image I aimed to reinforce. It became clear during my colour experiments that colours could easily become too dominant in this wide, tall space. The eventual pallette consisted of light, pastel-like tints that interact with the incident light. The higher up you go in the building, the more transparent and quiet the colours become. The practically square plan of the space maximizes freedom to view the colours from different perspectives and to notice the ever changing colour combinations. This too adds to the legibility and liveliness of the space.”
For the school, the design process was a unique experience, as working committee member Chris Vennekens recalls: “At the start, our initial focus on having a coloured floor in a white atrium was considerably widened. The arts agency convinced us of the advantage of treating the atrium as a coloured three-dimensional space; our view of the shape changed from square to cubic, so to speak. It will give a considerable boost to the functioning of the atrium as the beating heart of the school.”
Project information:
Client: OMO Scholengroep de Langstraat
Architect: RoosRos Architecten, Oud-Beijerland
Location: Olympiaweg 8a-b, Waalwijk
Artistic advice: Impresariaat Kunst en Bedrijf-Gabi Prechtl, Naarden
Artistic brief: integral colour design and furniture, assembly hall of OMO Scholengroep de Langstraat
Design: Studio Ramin Visch, Amsterdam
Realization: 2013-2014
Photos: © Jannes Linders, Rotterdam
Size: 1,325 m2 total usable floor space
Ground floor: 876 m2
1st floor: 275 m2
2nd floor: 174 m2
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