Social and Cultural Project: School, growing educational spaces for Tropical Rainforest Communities
This school is part of a global relocation project for two indigenous communities in the Panama Rainforest, which also includes the design of three housing typologies, a school, and a community center for each settlement. Designing in the humid tropical rainforest under such specific conditions was a major challenge, where we constantly sought culturally acceptable, climatically efficient, and functional solutions for the community’s needs. This school is a crucial component of the broader effort to improve the quality of life for a community with a life expectancy of only 25 years.
Key principles in the school design
The school’s design was based on five key principles:
- Visual privacy and ventilation: Classrooms needed to ensure visual privacy while allowing for cross ventilation, essential in tropical conditions.
- Covered play areas: It was necessary to provide covered spaces where children could play, given the limitations imposed by intense sun, heavy tropical rains, and high temperatures.
- Flexibility and adaptability: The school needed to account for the rapid growth of the communities, offering a modular and self-managed expansion solution.
- Logistics for material transport and construction: Due to the remote location, materials and construction methods had to be easy to transport and assemble with minimal workforce.
- Simple and accessible materials: The project prioritized the use of locally available materials that are easy to source and affordable, streamlining the construction process and reducing costs.
Design solutions: Ventilation, covered play areas, and modular growth
To achieve visual privacy and ventilation, classrooms were designed with louvered wooden paneling, allowing air to flow while blocking visibility. The roof was separated from the walls to ensure continuous air circulation, promoting cross ventilation.
The modular design was essential for creating covered play areas and flexibility. Each classroom is a modular unit measuring 7×7 meters, following the MEDUCA standards, and includes a roof structure that extends 3 meters around the classroom to create a covered play area. The roof is rotated 30º, creating wider zones for play and narrower ones for circulation. These modules were designed to interlock, sharing pillars and having roofs at different levels, enabling infinite growth of the school while ensuring wide, covered play areas around each classroom.
Materials and construction logistics
Given the project’s remote location, logistics for transporting materials and construction were critical. The structure was designed using treated wood, with a durability guarantee of 25 years, and the roofs were made from zinc sheets. Initially, compacted earth was considered for the walls, but due to soil composition, cement blocks were used instead. The flooring was made from rustic ceramic tiles, chosen for their ease of assembly and durability.
Final result: A versatile, adaptable school for continuous growth
The result is a versatile school with fluid spaces, adaptable to the natural topography of the terrain. The modular design allows for continuous growth as the community expands, providing a comfortable, functional, and safe learning environment that meets the unique challenges of the tropical rainforest.