Secondary school extension
The use of locally produced materials is the start of this project for achieving two objectives, first to reduce the ecological footprint by shrinking the “resource map” and second, to locate the building in a context much larger than the physical; the economic and the cultural. One of the few construction materials are available on the island that do not dependent on imports are those produced by the precast concrete industry. The implementation of concrete block as the ”new traditional” construction system in Mallorca, has developed a thriving industry of small manufacturers that use local aggregates in the manufacturing of a wide range of small pieces. It is an exercise that explores the visual capabilities of common elements used in local popular. The façade is made with blockwork of the company Palerm, and in their process only local aggregate has been used. Tests have been conducted to determine the load strength of the blocks that are not used in the usual position. Direct action:
The new extension of the Josep Sureda i Blanes High school is situated directly after the volume of the existing school, without separating or moving away from it. In order to minimize costs, shared access with the existing school, such as stairs and lifts have been proposed. The 9m span structure is solved with prefabricated slabs creating a free column space for future extensions.
