The starting point of the design was to renovate the existing school building, extending its lifespan. In addition the brief required a new auditorium, more space for regular school activities, and additional art and culture facilities to provide students with a challenging and stimulating learning environment while offering them more spaces to meet and gather. To achieve this, the design extends an existing roof structure and lowers it to ground level – closing the building’s circulation routes in one flowing move and creating an eye-catching element at the entrance to the school.

The swooping form of the new addition incorporates a tribune forming an auditorium to act as a focal point for school activities, as well as an adaptable stage and a kitchen. The building’s entrance remains in the same location, but the new design reconfigures it, with the main door now nestled underneath the curve. The resulting proposal draws pupils, teachers, and visitors directly into the heart of the building and the life of the school. Painted entirely in blue, the entrance creates a “heaven” in the school.

“It's fantastic to work on a building with which I have such history. This school shaped me strongly – it’s a former catholic seminary that transformed into a hip gymnasium and it gave me, coming from a small village, a cosmopolitan perspective,” says MVRDV founding partner Winy Maas. “I also think it is great that memories of students, from the past and present, are represented in the mural. Actually, there is a piece of everyone in the region in this building. It really is a reflection of the whole of Sint-Michielsgestel and its surroundings.”

“I went to school at Beekvliet myself, as did one of my children, and my wife is also a teacher there. These connections strongly motivate me to design a unique and special building that does justice to the school’s rich history”, says architect Theobert van Boven. “The auditorium with its curved shape, the printed façade, and the view of the pond that is characteristic of Beekvliet mean that this school will now also be located in a building that matches its stature.”