SO Lux

The school building of SO Lux on Stauntonstraat in the Utrecht district of Zuilen was built in 1973 and no longer meets today’s spatial and functional requirements for special education. In addition, the building had become significantly outdated. It was therefore decided to renovate the building.

The existing school is characterized as a single-storey building extending across the entire site in two wings. Due to this low-rise layout, the function of the building is difficult to read and there is no clearly recognizable entrance. Inside the school, the classrooms border long corridors without a central “heart” or meeting space.

The design was developed based on the existing cross-section. The corridor areas along Stauntonstraat are lower than the adjacent classrooms. By organizing all new installations in these lower zones, we can serve both the corridors and the classrooms, and the resulting insulated enclosure creates a new façade, which we use as a key architectural element.

The main structural system of the school consists of masonry columns with a load-bearing wall every three bays. In the design, the classrooms—due to the small teaching groups—are reduced to two bays. The third bay serves as a connection to the adjacent classroom and includes a small auxiliary room and a restroom directly adjoining the classroom, allowing the teacher to maintain oversight of the group.

Around the main entrance are the offices, while more specialized care functions, such as speech therapy and play guidance, are accommodated in the existing extensions. The staff room is situated in a sheltered position between the existing school and the new wing.

The school is heated using an air-source heat pump. The classrooms are heated with underfloor heating, supplemented by preheated air from a central air-handling system. The gymnasium is climate-controlled using a Frenger ceiling for heating and cooling, with a separate air-handling unit for ventilation. Together with the optimization of the building envelope, the school meets the BENG requirements in accordance with the current 2012 Dutch Building Decree (new construction standards).