Rosan Bosch | St. Andrew's Scots School

St. Andrew's Scots School

2019, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Innovative learning meets strong storytelling of Scotland in the new campus at St. Andrew’s Scots School in Buenos Aires. For the bilingual IB school, we have created a holistic learning landscape that activates the school’s Scottish heritage and sets the framework for students’ growth and development.

Imbued with characteristic Scottish landmarks, the design creates a learning journey through the flat beaches of the lowlands to the rocky and untamed highlands.

In kindergarten and early years, the students are grouped around the open beach-inspired areas of the Lowlands. The environment offers a flexible and comfortable learning space with padded surfaces, ideal for romping and movement. Each beach has a distinctive coral sculpture to give the space identity and promote a playful learning atmosphere.

As the students grow older, they move on to the Highlands where their territory gradually expand offering them more choice and autonomy. The imaginative landscape provides a differentiated learning environment, where the students can gather on the basalt columns or concentrate on curvy loungers and couches. They can work hands-on in the makers' lab, present in the circular Nessie theatre and exhibit their work on the platforms of the exhibition forests.

In the learning landscapes at St. Andrew’s Scots School, the students are encouraged to explore and learn how to learn independently. The new campus design gives the school a unique identity and fosters the development of 21st Century Skills.

THE HIGHLANDS OF PRIMARY SCHOOL

Inspired by the sculptural rocks along the Scottish coast, the hexagonal basalt columns present an intriguing learning setting. Here students can work in groups, gather for presentation or find shelter among the towering pillars to concentrate on their own.

In the Highlands, the open and shared learning environments have both bookable and unbookable spaces. The flexibility gives the teachers opportunities to plan according to the needs of the students – and improvise as new learning space needs arise during a project.