Location: Zuidoost, Amsterdam, NL
Year: 2018 - 2019
Site footprint: 2.400 m2
FSI netto: 2.2
Gross Floor Area: 5.500 m2
Program: Public, Educational
Client: Municipality of Amsterdam, De Meeuw
Building Costs: €6.700.000
Sustainability & Fire: Merosch
Installations: Engie
Management: CBB
Building Contractor: De Meeuw
User: Esprit Scholen
Photography: De Meeuw

The Amsterdam International Community School South East (AICS) is a temporary accommodation in which Primary Education (PO) and Secondary Education (VO) are combined in one school building. By combining PO and VO, a design where the continuity of the learning process is central has been created. Integration of various flows in the building around the central auditorium has led to a dynamic school. Young children move a lot and by maximizing the relationship between the outdoor spaces and the entrance, this movement is facilitated and stimulated.

The relationship between outdoor space, entrance of the school, auditorium and learning spaces is an important spatial sequence. We see this sequence as a transition from large, busy and interactive to small, quiet and focused. The transitions and organization between these different spaces is of great importance.

PO has its own central place in the form of a play room that opens into a double-height space with a tribune to the first floor. This is the heart of the PO that strengthens the interaction between all PO spaces on both floors. It incorporates the size and experience of the child and makes a clear division between the different types of spaces.

What makes the building furthermore special is that it is modular, dismountable and movable. In order to meet the different needs of education today, an adaptable and modular building is a very good answer.