Design Educates Awards 2022

The public school GO! Campus Zottegem in Belgium is designed as a response to one simple question: how do children learn best? The school is designed to meet the needs and visions for enhanced learning in Belgium. The design strategy is programmed to encourage children to play. When children play, they learn. Experimenting, exploring and nurturing the curiosity of children is encouraged throughout the entire 4,400 sqm playful learning environment. The spaces offer flexibility and differentiation, so that children can flourish to their best potential as individuals from kindergarten to secondary school. As the first of its kind in Belgium, the new school replaces traditional, uniform classrooms with differentiated learning landscapes, designed to place the individual at the center of the learning situation. The design motivates for more movement throughout the day and increase interaction across age groups for unintended inspiration, collaboration and social encounters. With a holistic and innovative approach to learning spaces, the red thread of the design consisting of inspirational trees, a loop slide, and collaboration mountains connect the interior with the outdoor playstreet and lead the children to age-appropriate facilities from the outdoor environment to the interior, and between the units. Moving from kindergarten to secondary year, the journey of growth is paved with stimulating designs that secure a safe and fun environment to retrieve and transform knowledge and ideas in different contexts. The learning spaces and units are organized around large plazas designed to develop a strong community and reflect the three landscapes of Belgium, merging culture and nature in the new vibrant environments. Curtains provide flexibility to shield off compartments or the possibility to open for a dynamic and buzzing learning space. The school is developed in close collaboration with students, teachers and school leaders to customize the pedagogical needs and integrate design that accommodate 21st century skills. Imagined, designed and in full use by 2021.