The design for the Municipal Primary School GBS Wevelgem was the outcome of an analysis of current and future developments on the school premises, a mapping of the existing protected trees and the relation of the design towards it’s inner-city surroundings.

The most optimal position, from a program and experience point of view, is at the proposed location within the Master Plan along the Grote Markt. This location fits in with the implantation pattern of the existing buildings and demarcates the playground from the street. This gives the playground more space and does not divide it up into separate, smaller parts.

By creating a change-oriented design we could keep the existing school, allowing opportunities for future reconfigurations in the existing buildings. The new building holds a restaurant and a large gym hall and creates an additional covered playground for school children through the vertical organization of the program.

A detached new building, including the restaurant, allows the functions to be more accessible to third parties and, above all, allows the options of the existing school building to be programmed more freely in the future. Different users can make use of the restaurant and the gym hall in the building at different times without having to enter the school building and without risking the development potential of the existing building.

The protected trees are deployed as passive shading on the building and playground which helped us to design towards a climate-adaptive building and landscape with more biodiversity and green play areas. The softening and greening of the playground is management-oriented and the result is space for nature and children within a playful environment. The biodiverse integration of trees and greenery makes a major contribution to a healthy environment and to the well-being of the children and neighbours.