DESA1002 'Continuous City' Tze Hui Goh

Abstract

The Jerusalem Public Primary School (JPPS) is a community-based primary school located in the vicinity of the ancient part of Jerusalem city. Jerusalem, especially the eastern part has one of the most underfunded education systems in the nation. This creates a high demand for schools to accommodate a large amount of children. Mission: Create an excellent primary education centre for the children in Jerusalem regardless of races. JPPS Philosophy: a)Community collaboration 1. The school building will serve its students for classes, workshops and for the meeting of the Jerusalem community. 2. Separation of the public and private space is crucial and clear to provide adequate teaching area and public area for the community. b)Community integration 1. Children from different races (who are segregated by the historical background) are mixed together to learn the value of cooperation, mutual understanding and tolerance. 2. This can be achieved by the design of classrooms, multipurpose hall, dining hall and outdoor spaces as community areas. 3. Classrooms with flexible design encourage students and teachers to create and take ownership of their space 4. Most of the rooms on Level 2 have flexible design to serve different purposes. c)Interaction with nature 1. The verandah is attached to the classrooms at Level 1. Teachers can extend their class to outdoor. 2. The U-shape tiered steps lengthen the space of the multipurpose hall and also provide a lovely outdoor classroom. 3. The rooftop garden maximizes the area of vegetation and playground in the small site. The climate in Jerusalem is hot and dry. By studying the common building materials in Jerusalem, thick Meleke stone walls are used as the main construction material. The thick walls heat up slowly and provide a comfortable indoor climate. The east and west openings are minimized to reduce the direct sunlight into the building. Translucent double glazed windows are used to provide enough natural sunlight indoor and yet keep the heat outside.