The school completes a housing development of single-family homes, taking on the role of a public building that provides structure, and defines a large façade as the end of the central axis of the neighbourhood, where the primary school entrance is located. The accesses to the nursery and primary school are located at different levels, taking advantage of the topography of the site. The nursery is located on the lower level, with direct access to the open inner courtyards, and the access to the primary school is located one floor above, where the main playground of the centre is located. The programme is organised in a very compact way, freeing up as much of the not very large site as possible. The teaching spaces are located on either side of the central corridor, which is punctuated with openings that illuminate it and generate informal spaces for interaction. The entire construction is industrialised: structure, panels, windows and solar protection. The centre has been built quickly and with better control of the finishes. The façade panels are a proprietary design that improves the quality and performance of this type of element.
The site on which the new Marta Mata school is located completes a recently created housing development and links it to an established area of single-family homes and an industrial area separated from the new school by a green zone. In this position, the building is situated in relation to this new development, following its volumetric guidelines and placing the primary school entrance at the end of the central axis/boulevard defined in the planning.
Taking advantage of the unevenness of the land, the nursery and primary school entrances are separated. The nursery entrance is located on the lower level, with direct access to the open inner courtyards, and the primary school entrance is located one floor above, in relation to a large open space on the street. This arrangement of volumes and accesses allows us to organise the programme in a very compact way and frees up the not very large site to the maximum.
The floor plan of the building is a revision of the scheme already tested in the Artés and Girona secondary schools: a central corridor with teaching spaces on both sides, and with openings that punctuate the route, illuminate and generate informal spaces for interaction.
The entire construction is industrialised, seeking the highest quality workshop production of the pieces, both for the supporting structure and the façade panels. This characteristic has allowed the centre to be built very quickly and with better control of the finishes. The heavy façade panels are a proprietary design that improves the quality and behaviour of this type of element. The windows and solar protection are also complete industrialised elements that minimise installation times.
The courtyards are staggered in order to adapt as much as possible to the original topography, generating terraces formed by steps and accessed by ramps. These terraces are directly related to the respective levels of the primary and infant schools. The position of the courts and the building takes into account the planned extension for a later phase, which connects to the current building at its vertical circulation core.
