#PUBLIC ARCHITECTURE PROJECTS
saavedrarquitectura builds brick clad school house in guimarães
architects isabel and joão saavedra of saavedrarquitectura were asked to design a school in guimarães, a midsize city in the northern reaches of portugal.
the small, single level education facility sits on a plot of 723.7m2 and is surrounded by public green space. simplistic and pure, the structure utilizes the pleasant southeastern sun exposure to create a dialogue between interior and exterior. the face is clad with full-height glass and heavy blinds — should the sun be too bright. the windows are slidable, enabling students and teachers to open the building directly to a fenced in recreation area.
in order to break the rigid formality of the school, saavedrarquitectura chose to treat the brick slightly more conceptually. openings into the structure are marked with a combination of two bricks laid with a middle joint, creating a void between. above, protruding bricks gives the building a sense of dynamism.
