Blueprint Awards 2016: The winners
Best Public-Use Project - with Public Funding
Winner: Grüntuch Ernst Architects, Germany
German School Madrid, Madrid, Spain
Judges’ Comments
‘Clever plan arranged around a sequence of courtyards – lovely use of light and shadow’ Amanda Levete
‘Clean modernist architecture with a difference’ Chris Wilkinson
Replacing its previous location in the city centre, the new building for the German School Madrid in northern Madrid provides a large complex for its special educational programme and evening theatre performances and concerts.
The building is arranged as clearly defined units, housing distinct uses – the kindergarten, the primary school and the secondary school – each framing an inner courtyard. Courtyards open up to the surrounding landscape and provide a vista of the snow-covered mountains beyond, while sculptural, polygonal skylights offer shade. The individual school buildings are connected by common areas; the cafeteria, a 750-seat concert hall and auditorium, and a sports hall.
The architect says: ‘A school is more than a matrix of classrooms; it is the centre of the students’ living environment and shapes their understanding of both the built and natural worlds as well as their sociocultural experience. The spatial compositions and visual connections within the school promote a sense of group identification and intercultural exchange in order to carry on the tradition and success of the German School.’
Commended
Glenn Howells Architects, UK
Stihl Treetop Walkway, Westonbirt, Gloucestershire, UK
UNStudio, The Netherlands
Arnhem Central Station, Arnhem, The NetherlandsImage : Hufton+Crow
Finalists
Aedas, UK
Tara Theatre, London, UK
BDP, UK
Alder Hey Children’s Health Park, Liverpool, UK
BuckleyGrayYeoman, UK
The Passage, London, UK
CRAB Studio, UK
Drawing Studio, Arts University Bournemouth, Poole, UK
De Matos Ryan, UK
York Theatre Royal, York, UK
Denton Corker Marshall,
Australia Australian Embassy, Jakarta, Indonesia
Heatherwick Studio, UK
Learning Hub (The Hive), Singapore
Hudson Architects, UK
Boardman House, Norwich, UK
Mecanoo Architecten,
The Netherlands HOME Arts Centre, Manchester, UK
Patel Taylor, UK
Albert Sloman Library and Silberrad Student Centre, Colchester, UK
Category sponsored by Deltalight