瓦哈卡的乡村学校丨墨西哥丨Territorio Estudio

Architects:Territorio Estudio

Area:225m²

Year:2023

Photographs:Sandra Pereznieto

Lead Architects:Néstor Esteva, María Díaz Gámez

Technical Team:Leslie Tamayo

Structural Consultant:Herrería Gaytán

Environmental Sustainability:Juan Francisco de León

City:San Andrés Huayapam

Country:Mexico

Text description provided by the architects. The project is based on a reflection on how educational spaces should be nowadays. From this starting point, we begin by creating shade - a roof supported by a flexible, light and open structure that allows for a dialogue between people, nature and architecture. The building adapts to the pre-existing conditions of the site and links the exterior and interior spaces by dissolving their boundaries.

In a playful way, the piece opens completely, allowing the wind to pass through, filtered light to enter and a closer relationship with the landscape. The height of the roof allows for sufficient air volume to regulate the temperature of the building and to diminish the amount of material used for the roof and walls to a minimum, significantly reducing the impact of the construction on the site. The building materials are either recycled or acquired within the same community, which promotes a link between the students, the surroundings and the landscape, while also responding appropriately to the structural and climatic conditions of the building.

The construction process considers the construction worker's conditions: the roof is built first and the floors and walls afterward, which means that they work in the shade for the majority of the construction time. Following this process, the wooden roof trusses were prefabricated in the shade and then placed on the metal beams.

The program, both exterior and interior, becomes completely educational by integrating the students into the regenerative processes that are carried out in the open area of the school, through the wetland that treats the water, the community garden, the compost, and the sheep and chicken pens as part of the educational proposal. The teaching staff, mostly from this community, will promote a closer social relationship between the local people and the space.

Project gallery

Project location

Address:San Andrés Huayapam, Mexico