KUUB is the first communal building within the emerging “newtown” of the city of Antwerp—Nieuw Zuid. In a district characterized by high-density residential towers rising from plinths of galleries, storefronts, and restaurants, KUUB is conceived as the collective heart of the neighborhood. More than a school, it is an urban hybrid: a compact five-storey structure that embeds a layered program—two schools by day, and a socio-cultural and sports infrastructure for the district and the city after school’s working hours.
This diverse program is stacked into five layers to form a compact building that fits precisely within its context. This duality creates the tension of the design: the urban surroundings demand a suitable, serious “dress code,” but the school challenges this rigidity by letting its internal workings spill outward in an unabashedly playful way. Red sun-protection screens and lively exterior staircases, together with a cadence of geometric façade compositions, give the building a self-willed presence.
The ground floor is the most public layer. The informal school gate on the playground side acts as the main entrance for pupils, while the formal entrance along the street serves the public and the after-school program. Outside school hours, this level becomes a socio-cultural center for neighborhood activities: meetings, workshops, creative ateliers, and cooking classes in the cafeteria.
Oversized vertical circulation organizes the entire building. The first and second floors are dedicated to the school, consisting of open, meandering learning platforms that are scaled into smaller learning clusters. At the center of the building, and amidst the learning landscapes, lies the double-height pink atrium—a decompression heart for the school.
The third floor consists of the sports infrastructure with changing rooms, the gymnastics hall, and the outdoor sports and play deck overlooking the new city district. The top level contains the community sports hall, used intensively by neighborhood associations in the evenings.
Because of the limited footprint of the site, the open spaces are creatively stacked: a green playground at ground level, a large play deck on the first floor, and a covered sports field on the third floor, accessible by outdoor staircases.
This double attitude is also visible at the building’s entrances. On the corner of J. Smolderstraat and Panamerankoplein sits the formal front with the main entrance: clear and direct, fitting into the strict street profile. The rear, by contrast, is inversely proportioned—open and airy. Here, as in a small village school, there is a gate with bicycle parking, a green play garden, and the play patio next to the cafeteria. Access happens gradually, sequentially from public to private, leading via the large tribune stair to the openness of the spacious first-floor playground. All learning landscapes open onto this level.
KUUB is the slightly mischievous child in the well-behaved family photo: polite enough to stand in line, yet barely able to contain the urge to play—much to the joy of everyone who wishes to join in, young and old, local and global.
