AOI Medical Academy

葵メディカルアカデミー

A medical school building located in front of the station, in Fukaya, Saitama.

This project presents an intriguing set of circumstances, where a typically modest program of an educational facility, is to be used as a landmark for this local town.

We began with the idea of a ‘vertically stacked’ school, as a way to deal with the demanding program, and then started to draw out potential adjacencies between separate functions. Our proposal is then based on a simple idea of the ‘sandwich’, vertically stacking the hyper functional classrooms between multipurpose training rooms. The training room is designed to be as open as possible, creating a threshold space for students to exchange information and ideas. This idea was then further explored on the ground level, by creating an open library that doubles as a study room, an interface between the city and the academy.

Further ideas of exchange were also explored by how we treated the high spec structure and services required for this building. By intentionally exposing each element and adding colour to each floor, we were able to bring what is usually hidden out into the learning space.

As a result of this vertically stacked environment, we hoped to create a continuity of activity between the city and the building. Flow lines are planned in and around the classrooms to create a 3 dimensional movement in which students can feel free to explore and find their own comfortable space in the building, and in the city.

This project represents an investigation into a dynamic and motivating way of building architecture that is spreading toward the urban environment without closing in on itself. An architecture that is engaged with its surroundings, yet rooted in program.