VO Merletcollege approved

February 2015 For a beautiful location on the Maas in Cuijk, Ons Middelbaar Onderwijs commissioned Ector Hoogstad Architecten to design a new school for the Merletcollege. The preliminary design was recently approved with great enthusiasm. Together with the client and the users we talked about this new school with its tricky conditions arising from the location. How can you maximize the qualities of the place? The school will be placed perpendicular to the dike so everyone enjoys the beautiful view; the green landscape, the dam and the water. By taking into account the insolation and the positioning of the program, one experiences – in a daily rhythm – the hours of the day. The classrooms and gymnasiums are grouped around a central hall that connects the ground floor via stage stairs with the canteen on the first floor. Here is a unique space with panoramic views over the dike and the river. On the other side of the stage stairs is the reading room with skylights for diffused light. The hall, study hall and canteen are suitable for double space use. Here you can hold a  presentation to large groups and organize events. The instruction halls lie on the outer ring in clusters of six that are in communicating with the central areas. Because of the CO2-driven natural ventilation, heat recovery, daylight circuit and the ability to use Maaswater, it is a very durable design.
The future Merletcollege is a building for ISP, HAVO and VWO students and covers approximately 9.500m2. The design was developed together with IMd, Nelissen and LBP/Sight. The landscape design was created by Connecting Cities.