The project for a school in Jacmel in Haiti, for 400 students takes advantage of the topography of the site, introducing reinforced concrete slabs on different levels that adapt to the slope. Grouped as independent units with three walls forming a C-shaped space, the repetitive modules are based on a regular grid, changing position according to programmatic requirements. This results in places of different proportions, orientation, degrees of privacy and intensities of sunlight or shade.

The construction technique is simple and can be pursued in stages, and equipped to minimize the impact of seismic activity. To benefit from the enormous amount of rain during wet seasons, roofs are designed to collect rainwater in tanks, and a drainage system uses wastewater for landscape irrigation. The project creates a child-friendly environment, a place full of mysteries and surprises that stimulates imagination and creativity.

Read project feature in 4th Holcim Awards 2014/2015 (flip-book)

Maciej Siuda of Maciej Siuda Architect in Warsaw, Poland considers the most important sustainable aspect is how the local environment, weather, culture, and people to make the project happen. “Indoor – Outdoor: Site-responsive school” in Jacmel, Haiti won a Holcim Awards Acknowledgement for offering an important contribution to discourses on sustainability, going beyond standard formulas. 

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The 12 winning projects of the Holcim Awards 2014 for Latin America focus mainly on adaptability and social performance, and show how sustainable construction is developing multi-disciplinary responses to the challenges facing design and building. A public park above a series of reservoirs in Medellín, a low-impact timber rainforest center in Costa Rica and a pedagogically-aligned school in Mexico were awarded gold, silver and bronze.

A range of aspects impressed the jury. First, the project’s aim to explore alternative educational models was greatly valued, particularly the provision of indoor as well as outdoor teaching activities and manifold classroom configurations for different teaching methods. Second, the notion of the school as a kind of city with classroom units forming “neighborhood clusters” was considered an excellent contribution to the design of educational facilities. Third, the jury applauded the type of development cooperation proposed by a foreign actor, Fundacja Polska-Haiti, in a country needing support, a collaboration of equal partners. All in all, the project offers an important contribution to discourses on sustainability, going beyond standard formulas.

The project for a school in Jacmel, Haiti, for 400 students takes advantage of the topography of the site, introducing reinforced concrete slabs on different levels that adapt to the slope. Grouped as independent units with three walls forming a C-shaped space, the repetitive modules are based on a regular grid, changing position according to programmatic requirements. This results in places of different proportions, orientation, degrees of privacy and intensities of sunlight or shade. The construction technique is simple and can be pursued in stages, and equipped to minimize the impact of seismic activity.