The Garden District's New Look School will be constructed according to UNK design

While architects provide a visually appealing solution, they also address the question of how a modern school should respond to the new educational challenges. Sergey Kuznetsov, Moscow's Chief Architect, gives details.

Moscow City Architecture Committee has approved the design of a five-storey school with a total area of about 18,000 square meters. The complex is divided into three main units: a junior high school, a high school, and common rooms.

“It was the Garden Quarters design code that inspired the architects' solution: floor-to-ceiling glazing, curved elements, a cantilevered overhang, and the use of natural materials that would age gracefully over time. UNK used the axes designed by Sergey Skuratov, the author of the city-planning concept for the quarter in question, and added some new elements: horizontal lamella planes that serve two functions in parallel in the academic buildings. Firstly, they provide shade and protection for the southern façade. Secondly, they create an illusion of a Chinese screen, which allows children to feel more at ease when they are indoors,” said Sergey Kuznetsov.

Ultimately, we decided on the translucent glass as the primary building material and glazed ceramic for the lamellas. Metal cassettes will be used to line the ceiling. The middle space, where the elementary and high school units are brought together, will be transparent, partially filled with silkscreen printing.

"It was necessary to find a unique solution because the school site was originally substandard. This was how a central console space was created and how we manage to accommodate a full-fledged community center there in the absence of a schoolyard. An important feature of our climate is to give the children an opportunity to exercise and take a rest outdoors. Garden Quarters, like the Atom pavilion at VDNKh, uses a large green roof to offset the lack of available land and emphasize the complex's name itself, Garden Quarters," said Yuliy Borisov, head of the UNK Group.

A key component of the project is a green hill that emphasizes the project's connection to nature. It will function as something of an amphitheatre, become a popular gathering spot for informal communication, and provide an opportunity for a collective photo, a sort of InstaPoint, on 1 September or during a graduation ceremony.

Along with the UNK Group's architects, the project also involves Storaket, the Smart School Educational Systems Development Center, and experts from the New Look Foundation.