The new structure, dubbed Ayb C, holds
laboratories, art studios, a sports hall, library,
small amphitheatre and recreation spaces.
The ground level is actually four metres below
grade, but benefits from clerestory windows
offering natural light, and the excavated area
is pulled away from the perimeter walls, to
provide a circulation ‘moat’ for the students to
perambulate. Ayb C has the high-tech facilities
and equipment required of contemporary
teaching, and simultaneously works to be stingy
with energy consumption.
The interiors are materially simple, on purpose,
with unplastered concrete-block walls and
concrete floors. Bright splashes of colour, usually
primary yellow, are dropped into some spaces
to liven things up and hint at a playful character.
This is echoed on the exterior, with two tubular
stair silos painted in the same tone. Beside
one of these, at the end wall, a segment of the
major box shifts at an angle, making for a more
interesting massing form from the exterior. Back