Arranged around a central cloistered agora and approached via a grand stair, the school is a celebration of classical design where passive and active environmental principles, together with proven vernacular and modern construction techniques, create a synergy of architecture that learns from the past and looks to the future.
In response to the environment the school complex is orientated by the cardinal grid with each north, south, east and west point marked as a learning mechanism for the students to understand the direction of the wind and path of the sun, thus growing aware of how their natural environment behaves and impacts upon them. Crete’s temperate climate allows each individual school to be considered as a series of indoor and outdoor spaces where the circulation and places for gathering form an open-air atrium, protected from the sun by signature climate roofs. Classrooms are orientated to the north and south and generally receive natural light and natural ventilation from two directions - direct via the exterior wall and diffuse via the atrium. The large communal halls are located on the east and west facades and screened with the climate screen protecting from the low angle sun and allowing for filtered natural light.
Aerial View
View of the Secondary School Atrium
Section Perspective Diagram
Site Plan
