Queen to Bishop 1

The new building designed by architects Bak Gordon & Maurer creates an enclosure with a study room and garden at the core of the building. A U-shaped corridor connects this inner area with the classrooms and existing building. This corridor zone is reminiscent of a cloister gallery and the building has a comparably minimal aesthetic. An independent contrasting element in the building is the wooden screen to the study room, which partitions the study area and garden from the corridor with a diamond-shaped grid. This creates a central hall that focuses on quiet and concentrated study.

Queen to Bishop 2

Part 1 - Ceramic tiles: A dialogue with the building. Ceramic tiles give the possibility of introducing accents of intense, lustrous colour. The project proposed relatively small tiled surfaces to offset and enhance the building rather than to compete with the prevailing aesthetic of the architecture. The areas ideally suited to such an intervention were the back walls of the light wells and staircases. These can act as both picture-plane to convey the pattern as well as giving natural framing with their demarcated surfaces.

Queen to Bishop 3

Two additional satellites were also introduced to the building, embedded into the concrete like heraldic crests.

Queen to Bishop 4

The proposed pattern for the project was based on trapezoidal shape cut very precisely by means of water jet and repeated in a three-colour-way scheme in jade green, deep red and eggshell white. The grout joints, also in eggshell white, are regarded as an intrinsic part of the ornament.

Queen to Bishop 6

Queen to Bishop 6

Part 2 of the project – a dialogue with the pupils: Bronze coat hooks with two faces. Long rows of minimal steel coat hooks are installed in the corridors for the pupils to hang their jackets and bags on.

Queen to Bishop 7

In addition to the existing utilitarian hooks, another type of coat hook has been introduced.

Queen to Bishop 8

These can be dropped down on a hinge to reveal the second gargoyle-like face like old shutter dogs that ward off the night - or like and ancient form of "emoticon" that allows the pupils to give the thumbs down for a bad day...

Queen to Bishop 9

...Or thumbs up for a good day.