SCHOOL OF GAFANHA DA BOA HORA, VAGOS BY ANTÓNIO PORTUGAL & MANUEL REIS ARCHITECTS

The School Centre is inserted in an area of transition between the agricultural plan that is developed in the edges of the South branch of the Aveiro “ria” and the extensive pine forest that fixes all this area of ancient sea dunes.The building defines three parallel bodies separated by exterior areas of recreation or leisure, in which the program is clearly distributed from a central distribution element with teaching spaces to the East and common areas to the West; the classrooms are distributed along the two main volumes, the 3rd one including the gymnasium.

His image results from the pretended functional and constructive clarity; the projection of floor and covering slabs (on the South side) guarantees the energetic efficiency of the construction and reinforces the horizontal that underlines the small waviness of the land, being in opposition to the vertical sense of the trees that characterize the site; accompanying the rhythm of the same trees, the façades between the slabs are defined by transparent fixed elements (glass) and opaque wood elements that create the different solutions of wall, ventilation and access. 
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