Gokceada is a characteristic island in Northern Aegean Sea with small scale masonry houses in organic urban patterns. Being on an island, the town is an isolated settlement with limited resources. Therefore the main aim of Gokceada High School Campus, which includes a high school, vocational school, dormitory, gymnasium, library, and a conference hall, is to create an integrated life within educational-social entity of the school and the urban life. By this means, the campus will not only be used in the school hours, but it will serve for 24 hours to the people of the island as an open campus with a projection of sharing limited resources efficiently.
Pedestrian first reaches the campus square by walking along the schools’ front façade. The campus square and the buildings surrounding like the library, conference hall, indoor and outdoor sports areas is easily accessible to townspeople. The square also leads you to the meadows and hobby gardens further ahead for outdoor recreational facilities.
The project which was awarded with the 1st prize in the national architectural competition was mostly appraised by the jury of its open campus quality and integrated life proposal with the town.
The school buildings also propose an interactive learning environment. Especially the ground floor is transparent with an easy flow through courtyards, encouraging students to be participative, inquisitive and learning from eachother. A passerby can listen to the melodies coming from the music room, or a student can observe the arts work through the transparent glass façade. The learning environment becomes a versatile space creating a sense of belonging.
The campus buildings which have a total of 18.000m2 of gross floor area are planned to be situated on the former building footprints to preserve the existing trees and use the vast and green open spaces of the campus.
Project Details:
Location: Gokçeada, Çanakkale, Turkey
Area: 18000 sqm
Architects: PAB Architects
Design Team: Pınar Gökbayrak, Ali Eray, Burçin Yıldırım, Çağlar Yılmaz, Sinem Yardımcı, Ekin Aytaç, Arzu Meyvacı, Serkan Polat
