The reinvention and adaptation of an old school and its yard to contemporary needs.

© David Frutos

The project, designed by Alicante based crystalzoo, involves an old school building renovation and its yard in order to allow new public uses, in Novelda, Spain. Their adaptation to contemporary needs established a dialogue between each stage of their evolution, reinventing themselves.

© David Frutos

© David Frutos

© Rafael Galán

© Rafael Galán

© Rafael Galán

© Rafael Galán

A new wrapper is created to equip the building and the plaza with new technologies and services. The plaza is raised as a hub of social activity in Novelda. This system consists of connecting paths defining soft areas that can adapt and establish links with what is happening inside the building.

Working with an old school offers the opportunity to have the yard, which is a valuable open space, within the dense urban fabric. This courtyard is a place that complements and makes possible the use of this new building. Materiality and lighting are the way this proposal establishes new links and relationships between the building and the public space.

The architects try to provide complete and sophisticated equipment to this building and its plaza, through the installation of a new structure that surrounds the old school, with its own program, and also the support for the new activities. This structure provides lighting, energy and information systems, that define the specific environments for all the different situations that may happen.

ARCHITECT: crystalzoo/Jose Luis Campos Rosique, Alicante, Spain. LOCATION: C / Dr. Fleming 40. Novelda, Spain. DESCRIPTION: Cultural. CONTRACTOR: JOST SA. SPONSOR: City Council and Government of Spain Novelda. DATE: 2010. No part of this web site may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission of Morfae and the copyright owner.