S H W Group
Kurdistan Transformational School While undergoing tremendous political and socio-economic transition in light of the post-Saddam Hussein regime change, Kurdistan is embracing education and the power it has to transform a nation. This has led to a desire for schools that can serve as catalysts for the transformation, and the new Transformational School will become a prototype for introducing twenty-first-century educational methods. Serving primarily Grades K-5, this facility also will play an important role in community and municipal functions, providing adult education, on-site teacher training, community gathering, and performance spaces. It is designed to be entirely self-sustaining through progressive use of green technologies, and uses pod classroom design to provide the most effective teaching solutions. The design closely reflects the region’s mountainous topography and is meant to blend harmoniously with the mountains that are so central to the lives of the local people. Designers took advantage of the region’s sloping condition, and as a result, the building sits low, progressively emerging into view, creating a structure appropriate to its landscape. The stepped plan adds character to the building and significantly reduces site development costs by
avoiding the need to level the site. Exterior finishes also reflect the geography and heritage of the land through careful selection of material and pattern.
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