Container classrooms serving as temporary school buildings?
We tell you in this interview with school director Paul Burghouwt why this is the most ideal solution.
When the number of school-going children increases and they can no longer fit into the existing building, temporary modular schools or better known as container classrooms can be a great solution. Especially, in the newly developed neighborhoods, where the increase can happen very rapidly.
Placement of the temporary container classrooms can be next to the existing building and blend naturally into its surroundings. The placement can take from a couple of days to a couple of weeks, depending on the scope of the project.
One of Algeco's most recent references is the Park16 hoven primary school in Rotterdam.
A few months after completion of the temporary container classrooms, we had the pleasure of interviewing the school's director, Paul Burghouwt. We asked him how he himself, the teachers and the children experience working or being taught in container classrooms.
- Project specifications
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LocationRotterdam
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BrancheEvents
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Construction time6 weeks
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Number of unit(s)54
‘For the school management, a temporary school is not always a wish, but a necessity. When that need arises, we want to do everything possible to create a comfortable, inspiring and safe space where children can learn and develop.' Paul Burghouwt - school director
This temporary school was delivered in cooperation with Gemeente Rotterdam and it will be in use for about 1.5-2 years until the new permanent school building is finished. Already in the very first planning stage, Mr. Burghouwt and his team expressed their wish to make it light, spacious, especially in the common areas, accessible, and welcoming. Not to mention, fully functional from a technical point of view - sanitary/kitchen/safety facilities.
The design of the project was developed by an external architect. Algeco was responsible for recreating the idea taking into account the wishes of the customer, the possibilities of modular construction, and the peculiarities of the units. Therefore our in-house technical experts went the extra mile to execute these special requests such as a skylight in the roof and luxurious sliding glass doors.
Mr. Burghouwt: ‘When we inform parents that for the time being, we have to use the temporary school, we always have a lot of concerns and fears about whether it’s comfortable, warm enough, safe, etc. And I am happy to say that we were able to create a school building that can fully cover all our needs for the coming months. In addition, it doesn’t have the look and feel of the temporary building. It’s comfortable, and nice and creates space for our children to freely learn, develop and express themselves. Overall, we are very happy with the result’.
What did we deliver?
The temporary container classrooms offer a capacity for about 250 children, has 8 classrooms, contains various 360° services such as a kitchen and sanitary facilities for pupils and teachers. The special feature of these container classrooms is that you can enter the temporary school building from 3 sides.
These extra access points make it super easy to go outside for a breath of fresh air between classes. Natural light falls in through the special skylights on the roof and through the glass doors on both sides of the building. The wide corridor is used as a cafeteria, playground and open classroom.
Key Facts about the temporary modular school:
- 54 modular units and a storage
- Turnkey delivery with luxurious sliding glass doors
- Corridors are 6 meters wide because the lessons are taught in the hallway
- The building has heating and cooling by means of inverters and a luxury heat recovery ventilation system
- Outside panel decorations
- Delivery: 6 weeks
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