To the north of the linear atrium-striit are the educational units from kindergarten to the high school, and to the south are the administrative units, cafeteria, gymnasium and conference hall. Each of the education blocks, which have a maximum of three storeys, opens out onto interconnecting courtyards and age-specific gardens. Sports and activity areas have the capacity to open directly onto the south garden and get integrated with the outdoor space. Within this scenario, the building creates continuity and permeability both in-between the units and between the interior and exterior spaces. Similarly, where the blocks open onto the atrium, there are communal areas such as canteens on the ground floor and libraries on the upper floors for different age groups.
On the eastern end of the atrium are the administrative units and on the western, an auditorium for 1,000 people. With this linear organisation, it was possible to create independent entrances both for educational blocks and for administrative and educational activity areas, circulation areas that do not intersect. The foyer of the assembly hall and the fitness centre below, as well as the sports facilities available to parents, are independently accessible from the west end of the campus. The underground car park located throughout the campus keeps the ground floor free from vehicular traffic and, especially in winter, provides direct access of students to board school buses without leaving the building grounds.
The atrium, tailored as space for social interaction and cultural environment, becomes an alternative learning space parallel to the classrooms, a place for socialising, participate in activities and creative activities of youngsters.
THE CAMPUS AS AN URBAN FRAGMENT
Within this physical construct, the Zafer College campus offers students more than just a school building; it provides an urban environment, a dynamic space filled with various activities; plus a vibrant life, simulating the city environment, the street experience. The atrium serves as the core, surrounded by independent units such as club rooms, a cafeteria, the swimming pool, the sports hall, meeting room foyers, and a library, all with direct views of the events taking place. Additionally, it features an interior amphitheater, an ice-skating rink, and alternative event spaces.
Sequential with the kindergarten, other educational buildings and the inner gardens that both separate and connect each other are designed in gradation for increasing age groups. Bridges across the atrium establish a continuity of connection between education blocks and social and sports facilities.
KINDERGARTEN AS AN INDEPENDENT UNIT
The kindergarten on the campus is conceived as an independent unit with its own private courtyard, ensuring a supervised connection to the atrium for the younger age group. This unit includes its own swimming pool, sports and play facilities, and a separate cafeteria. The kindergarten is connected to the campus through an outdoor area in the atrium that features a greenhouse and pet shelters. In this zone, the atrium transforms into a sheltered play area acting as a protective overhead skin.
TRANSPARENCIES, PERMEABILITIES
The basic design concepts maintained are transparency and permeability. The permeable character is not only achieved between interior and exterior spaces, but also between different units to increase social and cultural interactions of students. In this sense, the atrium, designed as a single space with high volume, allows all units be perceived at the same time, creating a spatial continuity both horizontally and vertically.
The glazed facades of the building support the constructs of transparency and permeability, especially in social areas outside the teaching blocks. Apart from the presence of coloured glazed surfaces used for interior experiences, which degrade the building scale and highlight different sub-areas, the simple architectonic language and the basic material choice is deliberate. The essential structural elements of the building are directly functional in the final touch. In this sense, ornaments and decorations are avoided; allowing exhibitions, events and educational movement in the atrium to become dominant to form the basic meaning.
CHOICE OF CONSTRUCTION
The building is a combination of reinforced concrete and steel systems. A steel shelter structure was used on the axis of the assembly hall and the main road. Joints between this roof and reinforced concrete blocks also functions as horizontal service ducts. In spaces which needed natural light, such as the gymnasium, the swimming pool and the dining hall, it was possible to create wide fenestrations with post-tensioning.
