Vitalis College
Vitalis College
Vitalis College
Compact volume with multiple faces
Urban integration
The Vitalis College new building is located in the quiet and green district of Biesdonk on the north side of Breda. In the neighborhood, several schools are located like big blocks between the houses. Bouwschool Breda is located on the south side and there are 2-storey houses with a roof on the north side. The lot is easy to reach by bike, bus and car.
In height and appearance, the new building fits well with the south side towards Nieuwe Kadijk. On the other side, connection has been made with the small scale of the houses. This shift in scale creates a dynamic mass on both entrance sides. The school is in line with the homes and the practical school and provides space for the main road on the Biesdonkweg, near the Vervierstraat.
The formal language has a subtle perspective effect. The school building seems smaller because it is never seen in its entirety at once. The legs of the X-shape can house specific clusters and at the same time give an appearance to the environment through the four heads. The 'armpits' offer the possibility for beautiful intimate outdoor space or for the entrances. The northwest sports leg is two layers high, so that sunlight shines into the northern court. The northeast-facing leg is three layers high. Both legs are thus in a friendly way with housing in the north. The two southern legs and the heart are 4-layered. This part of the building is clearly visible from the Nieuwe Kadijk. It is the school's urban design accent.
Vision and concept
The new building offers accommodation for pedagogy, physical care, services and health care courses. In one leg of the X, they each have their own base, with their own heart and face, but share facilities such as a gym, auditorium, lecture hall and theory rooms. By arranging the practice rooms on both the ground floor and the third floor, the first and second floors mainly have a general character. This general drive is easy to access from all bases via the stairs, without crossing the entire building.
The street-side entrance is for pedestrians. There is an entrance at the back for people who have parked their cars or bicycles there. Both entrances lead to the auditorium with its auditorium stand and atrium. This is the center of the building and the space where you can get anywhere from: the heart. This public space is intended for informal meetings and runs partly over two and partly four floors of the building. From here, the route to every base starts. It is the place where the different bases in the building can profile themselves.
The courtyard, right next to the auditorium, ensures that light and air reach deep into the school and functions as a terrace near the auditorium. The auditorium is a functional place where students enjoy their lunch. It is also the place where the different users, both teachers and students, meet. The large grandstand staircase, located in the middle of the auditorium, also makes the auditorium suitable as a theater for performances, graduations and school parties.
Atmosphere and experience
Colours and materials for Vitalis College are natural and calm. The floors are light grey and the overall walls are just not white. These light tones, in combination with the wooden grandstand staircase and the wooden interior frames, give the school a natural and friendly basic look.
The experience plan used color tones and visuals, created by Brigitte Jongstra. Natural colors and visuals shape the identity of the different bases.
Façade concept, line and color
The surroundings of the Vitalis College new building are characterized by many horizontal lines in the home and school facades. This horizontality gives the buildings a small scale that is reflected in the, partly four-storey, new building. The façade consists of horizontal bands that emphasize the shape of the building. The lines in the façade pick up the lines from the adjacent residential buildings. This gives peace of mind to the streets. In the vicinity of the Vitalis College, there is frequent use of a pale yellow gray stone.
To give the neighborhood more atmosphere and color, a copper orange to bronze façade color is considered in a stone that matches the commonly used brick in the area.
Space and flexibility
In order to properly facilitate a school, a flexible building structure is needed. After all, education is always on the move. The building is designed as a shell building with a standard span of 7.8 m and 10.2 m. The columns are decentralized from the changing corridors. It is possible to arrange the corridor in the middle, with equal spaces on both sides. But it is also possible to build the corridor on the other side of the row of columns, so that wide practice rooms can be created on the opposite side. In the event of a major program change, it is quite easy to completely empty the floors due to a new layout, after which only the stairwells remain standing.
