Don Rimoldi school hub in Varese

A community school open to the city and a sports center within a park

-ongoing

Within the diffuse rural context of San Fermo, which is lacking in community spaces and cultural attractions, the project for the redevelopment of the park and school hub grasps the collective importance of these spaces and radically rethinks the existing condition.
The park area is redesigned as a permeable open space.
Starting from the desire to create a constant dialogue with the park in which it is inserted, the project reverses the existing morphological condition and proposes a system of pavilions articulated around a void – a controlled space that gathers and connects the school community.
Externally, the pavilions establish a synergistic relationship with the outdoor spaces: the auditorium and gymnasium face the public space while the two schools face the quieter areas of the park.
Internally, the different pavilions are connected by a “ring-shaped” architectural body, which function as entrance and connective space. This horizontal element acts as a plug-in system around which the volumes are grafted, generating a flexible exchange between the buildings and “activating” the more public spaces of the school.
This architectural conformation makes it possible to manage different and flexible levels of privacy, allowing the new San Fermo school complex to be configured as a civic center in its own right.

Client: Comune di Varese
Status: Ongoing
Architect: Archisbang and BDR bureau
Structural and executive planning: Sintecna srl
Mechanics and electrical advisor: Projema Engineering srl
Sustainability advisor: Arch. Elisa Sirombo
Acoustics advisor: Arch. Chiara Devecchi
Costruction supervision: Ark.I.Post Engineering srl
Participation process guidance: Labsus Laboratorio di Sussidiarietà