Sakhnin's Urban Campus for Education
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Sakhnin
Municipality of Sakhnin
2021
Design Phase
Education, Offices
Sewar Ghantous, Salam Bdarneh, Yahya Thalji, Adham Shalash
Husein Yassin
The project confronts major difficulties particular to Arab cities in Israel such as the scarcity of public space and the absence of good public frameworks and services.
As we were asked to design several schools on the same site, we sought to maximize their benefit by removing the boundaries separating them from the city and letting them form the basis for a public infrastructure.
A long park stretches along the west side of the site connecting the buildings with the city. The buildings facades are uniformly aligned along the public space creating a pedestrian promenade.
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The educational program will focus on engaging the community and promoting the freedom and flexibility for the children to develop their own unique skills and capabilities. It will break away from the old rigid model and embrace a more dynamic pedagogical paradigm that promotes learning through social activity and through interaction with others and with the city right outside.
The first building to be initiated, an elementary school, is seeking LEED Gold, Israeli 5281, and SEED certifications. The entire campus will be designed to comply with very high sustainability and environmental standards.
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Rational is collaborating with WAWA for the green building design and certification, Wesam Nahas – Landscape Architecture, Basem Alqrenawi – Accessibility, Adel Ziadna – Fire safety, Suleiman Wishahi and Osama Farah – MEP, Razore - Acoustics.
-The public buildings are aligned along the pedestrian promenade. Boundaries were removed from this façade in order to create contiguity with the city and produce a rich and dynamic urban space.
-Interior view of the southern elementary school - on the ground level there is a large atrium surrounded by various spaces for learning. Glass curtain walls reveal the park outside.
-A view from across the street from the west side - the High School in the higher levels and retail space on the ground level . The café from the left complements the other public areas.