Expansion of Líbeznice primary school
Collaboration:
Pavel Joba, Jakub Havlas, Michal Tichý, Barbora Zachovalová (artwork)
Photograph:
Petra Hajská
2016-2017, Líbeznice
In 2016, the municipality faced an unexpected surge of interest in the Líbeznice education system. The trust of parents in the local school system reflected the actions of the municipality, which had been systematically developing and improving this infrastructure. In 2016, there was a boom in applications for enrollment in the local education system. As a result, the need to increase the number of students by 180 places arose.
At this moment, we came up with the idea of utilizing the attic space. The roof covering was outdated, and the building's structure, built in the 1950s, allowed for the addition of a new floor. A spatial study confirmed the feasibility of adding the required capacity, including resolving access and escape routes, provided the roof trusses were raised by 1.3 meters. To speed up construction and reduce costs, the new roof structure was made of laminated frame trusses.
The construction took place in the summer of 2017 using a very interesting approach, where the new raised roof structure was first built, including the covering, and then the original roof was demolished. This method resulted in savings on the cost of protecting the building from rain. We viewed the original wood from the old roof as a valuable material, as 80-year-old seasoned timber is an excellent shape-stabilized building material. The original elements of the old roof were carefully disassembled and stored for future use. Today, they can be found in the municipality in the form of pedestrian walkways, bridges, railings, gazebos, and benches.