A School of Our Time

On the eve of the presentation of the new book by ATRIUM, dedicated to the design of schools and other educational facilities, based on the architects’ considerable experience, as well as expert judgments, we are examining the Quantum STEM school building, constructed according to their project in Astana. Furthermore, this building is planned to be the first one to start a new chain. The architects designed it in full accordance with modern standards but sometimes they did break away from them – only to confirm the general development rules. For example, there are two amphitheaters in the atrium, and there is an artificial hill in the yard that is meant to make the flat terrain of the Kazakhstan steppe more eventful.

Written by:
Julia Tarabarina
Translated by:
Anton Mizonov

14 February 2023

Object

The Quantum STEM school in Astana is the first complete building of this private school network in Kazakhstan. Its principles are most modern and cutting-edge: to inspire, to develop, and to motivate the students, among other things, for “intellectual adventurism”. Also, the schools will pay special attention to technological disciplines and natural sciences, while instruction will be given in three languages: Kazakh, Russian, and English.

The design of the Quantum school buildings, which will be rather numerous in the country – at least two in Astana and Almaty each and one in Shymkent – was commissioned to ATRIUM architects as competent and efficient experts in modern school design.

zooming — Private school QUANTUM

Copyright: Photograph © Evgeny Tkachenko / provided by ATRIUM Architects

One of these days, ATRIUM are presenting a book based on examples from their own practice of designing school buildings, as well as experts’ reviews and other materials – some sort of compendium on the issues of working with educational institutions. The architects have a tremendous 20-years’ experience in that, starting with the orphanage school in Moscow’s Kozhukhovo.

The Quantum school in Astana is the newest of the buildings designed by ATRIUM, whose construction is now complete, and this is why we decided to give a detailed coverage of this project now. And we do recommend reading the book too.

Anton Nadtochiy, «ATRIUM»

So far, we have worked on the concepts of three buildings within the Quantum STEM network of private schools. Schools in Almaty and Shymkent are still in the design stage, the building in Astana has been built in a surprisingly short time, from the delivery of the concept to the completion of construction and the start of the school in September 2021, only 9 months passed, which is very little. All the three projects are different, they are by no means “standardized”, and their architecture is highly individual; perhaps they are united by a common approach – in each case, volumes with different functions look different, but they “bleed together” through the public space of the atrium, which becomes the basis for movement and communication, and by spaces “flowing” into one another, which makes their perception more complex, and therefore interesting.

The task that was set for us in the case of a school in Astana was not exactly “exceptional”, but it was very close and interesting to us – all we were required to do was design a school based on the requirements of modern education: with a space that ensures de-confliction of streams, in particular, middle and high schools (children study here from the 6th grade) – and at the same time provides opportunities for communication, multifunctional use and creates a variety of ways of movement. For example, in this case, it is possible to reach the ground level from both first and second floors, and at the same time, the artificial hill creates – on a completely smooth and even terrain of Astana – a courtyard protected from the wind, not to mention the fact that the hill now commands sweeping views. Another feature is that in Astana we have not one, but two amphitheaters in a common atrium space, such a solution is not very common.

We also liked the client’s desire to make the building cutting-edge, convenient and relevant, without any specific references to national culture.

The school was built very fast, within 9 months. The ATRIUM architects developed the concept and consulted the Kazakh company that prepared the working documentation. It is only the interiors that were executed without the architects’ direct supervision, even though all the key ideas were also implemented here. On the whole, the authors are happy with the end result, even though they do not conceal their surprise at the incredible rate of its implementation.

The school is located in the center of Astana, next to the central, regularly planned parks of the new capital. Norman Foster’s Khan’s Tent is 800 meters to the east. Nearby, across the street, there is a residential complex; the city in this part is growing and developing.

The building in fact consists of three units: the sports one stretches by the south border of the site; its elongated volume, coated with panels the color of warm yellow wood, has a roof that elevates towards both ends, so, when viewed from an angle, this unit looks a little bit like a swing, the effect being further strengthened by the glazing that expands from east to west.

The two academic units: the western one (meant predominantly for grades 6-9), and the eastern one (meant for higher grades), are also bent like “bird signs”, each “spreading its wings”, which is clearly visible on the plan or drone footage.

All the three units are connected by an atrium, and at this point we are remembering Anton Nadtochiy’s words that the atrium here is not just large, but also far from simple. It has two amphitheaters in it, veering up and to the sides from the central space; on the level of the second floor, there is an overpass that connects them. In the upper part, however, the amphitheaters develop in different ways. One of them is larger, and the third and fourth floors encircle it in galleries.

The other amphitheater is smaller. In the ceiling of the third floor above it, there is a triangle with a trampoline. All the extra safety measures have, of course, been observed, including double safety nets, and the experience of jumping on the trampoline will probably be unforgettable.

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Private school QUANTUM

Copyright: Photograph © Evgeny Tkachenko / provided by ATRIUM Architects
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Private school QUANTUM

Copyright: Photograph © Evgeny Tkachenko / provided by ATRIUM Architects
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Private school QUANTUM

Copyright: Photograph © Evgeny Tkachenko / provided by ATRIUM Architects
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Private school QUANTUM

Copyright: Photograph © Evgeny Tkachenko / provided by ATRIUM Architects

There is also a spiral staircase in the same atrium space – as the architects specify, you can ascend to the second floor by the amphitheaters, and then use the spiral staircase to get to the third and fourth.

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Private school QUANTUM

Copyright: Photograph © Evgeny Tkachenko / provided by ATRIUM Architects
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Private school QUANTUM

Copyright: Photograph © Evgeny Tkachenko / provided by ATRIUM Architects
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Private school QUANTUM

Copyright: Photograph © Evgeny Tkachenko / provided by ATRIUM Architects

The contained-space event hall is, of course, also there in the building; it is placed parallel to the large one consisting of the two amphitheaters in the upper floors of the west unit. The main entrance to it is from the top, from the gallery of the public space.

In a word, the center of the building receives a spatial core – I think this is the most adequate term. On the outside, it manifests itself in elevating the glass facades chamfered on the plan: there is a ziggurat that appears in the cavity between the units. On each of the roofs, there is a terrace, on which you can also walk out in summer. There are no skylights, but the atrium is well-lit through glass walls.

Thus, the central spatial core “grows through” to the outside world: you can enter and exit at different levels, and the multilevel quality of the inner space is further developed in the landscape forms closest to the building. As we remember, you can exit to the hill from the level of the second floor, having entered on the first and ascending the staircase of one of the amphitheaters: this is how a spatial “loop” appears that connects the outer and the inner spaces.

We must remember, however, that the steppe-encircled Astana is a pretty windy place. This is why the hill has not just aesthetic value but it also protects the plaza before the entrance from hard winds that do occur here. The outdoor amphitheaters are made on the slopes of the hill, both on the inside and on the outside.

Curiously, the landscape – the contours of the hill and the pavement – is subjugated to the pattern of rounded lines that soften the angles of the triangles, which resembles the pavement pattern in the Symbol housing complex. The contours of the galleries in the atrium space are rounded – and this is how yet another kind of echoing appears – this time of the imagery nature – between the landscape on the outside and the public spaces inside.

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Private school QUANTUM. Plan of the 1 floor

Copyright: Photograph © Evgeny Tkachenko / provided by ATRIUM Architects
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Private school QUANTUM. Plan of the 2 floor

Copyright: Photograph © Evgeny Tkachenko / provided by ATRIUM Architects
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Private school QUANTUM. Plan of the 3 floor

Copyright: Photograph © Evgeny Tkachenko / provided by ATRIUM Architects
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Private school QUANTUM. Plan of the 4 floor

Copyright: Photograph © Evgeny Tkachenko / provided by ATRIUM Architects
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Private school QUANTUM. The master plan

Copyright: Photograph © Evgeny Tkachenko / provided by ATRIUM Architects

Meanwhile, the outlines of the units themselves – asymmetric and rather jagged – are rather based on collisions of planes than on curves. But then again, the construction, which looks almost symmetrical when viewed from one side, looks like a multibeam star on the outside, which is currently considered to be one of the best options for designing a modern school building because it yields a maximum amount of natural sunlight for the classrooms – the building clearly makes the most of the benefits of this approach.

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Private school QUANTUM

Copyright: Photograph © Evgeny Tkachenko / provided by ATRIUM Architects
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Private school QUANTUM

Copyright: Photograph © Evgeny Tkachenko / provided by ATRIUM Architects
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Private school QUANTUM

Copyright: Photograph © Evgeny Tkachenko / provided by ATRIUM Architects
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Private school QUANTUM

Copyright: Photograph © Evgeny Tkachenko / provided by ATRIUM Architects

On the outside, the units look noticeably different – this helps the students get their bearings – but the contrast is not accentuated; rather, it is aimed at finding “faces of its own”, different and alike at the same time.
The junior high unit (grades 6-9) in the center is characterized by a crimson-brownish tone, and greater “flexibility” – this building is the only one here that has a rounded “breaking angle”, and even a pitched roof.

Its west pitch is covered with the same material as the facade; the side end of the event hall is encased in a contoured pentagon frame, a characteristic technique of modern architecture during the moments when you suddenly remember that you need to pay tribute to tradition. It even seems to me that this “pitched instance”, the only one in the entire complex, salutes to the dacha houses that survived on a moor to the north of the complex. Probably, they will soon disappear, but their “shadow” as the outline on the sidewall of the school building will remain.

Private school QUANTUM

Copyright: Photograph © Evgeny Tkachenko / provided by ATRIUM Architects
Private school QUANTUM

Copyright: Photograph © Evgeny Tkachenko / provided by ATRIUM Architects

The shape of the west unit is the most “tell-tale” of all; it gives the school complex a certain air of coziness, yet it does it very tactfully, staying within the limits of the nuance. The composition, however, is noticeably livened up, and it received a certain intrigue.

The other two units have a lighter color. The sports one is decorated with slender vertical panels with a “wood” effect, and the “high school” one is coated with light-colored brick. Their roofs, flat, yet inclined, resonate with each other.

An important part is played by the cantilevers, there are several of them here, and you can only be surprised and happy with the fact that all these subtleties were implemented to a letter at such a short notice. Without them, the school would have been quite different. And form is something that is very important for a school if you really think of it as a place where personality develops.

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Private school QUANTUM

Copyright: Photograph © Evgeny Tkachenko / provided by ATRIUM Architects
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Private school QUANTUM

Copyright: Photograph © Evgeny Tkachenko / provided by ATRIUM Architects
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Private school QUANTUM

Copyright: Photograph © Evgeny Tkachenko / provided by ATRIUM Architects
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Private school QUANTUM

Copyright: Photograph © Evgeny Tkachenko / provided by ATRIUM Architects
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Private school QUANTUM

Copyright: Photograph © Evgeny Tkachenko / provided by ATRIUM Architects
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Private school QUANTUM

Copyright: Photograph © Evgeny Tkachenko / provided by ATRIUM Architects

Just as significant was the client’s request to design a “generally modern” school without any extra specifications. In this day and age, “modern” may mean both globalism and anti globalism, depending how you look at it, expressed in the search for identity that almost inevitably comes down to something overly ornamental, something that looks like a “steppe tent”. Such a search is exciting, yet at the same time there is a risk that it will muddle the process. At the same time, instruction, given in three different languages, is conducive to forming an open-minded worldview. So I think these people are on the right track.

The search for the spatial structure and architectural image of the new school is also, I think, productive. Generally speaking, for 10 years, if not more, there has been a lot of talk about how a modern, “efficient” school building can help the growth of personality. These conversations probably date back to the postwar 1950s. Is a building capable of shaping a person, changing him or her for the better, helping to develop with every of its cantilevers, floors, and windows? Something in this equation, of course, depends not only on the building, but also on the person and on other circumstances of his life, both in-school and extracurricular. Meanwhile, Vera Butko and Anton Nadtochiy believe in the healing role of architecture, as it seems, quite sincerely, and are engaged in school projects with full dedication.

And they also promised us to show their book about schools pretty soon.

14 February 2023

Headlines now

Review

Living in the Architecture of One’s Own Making

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Object

A City Block Isoline

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Report

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Any day now, we’re expecting the results of a competition held by the “Samolet” development group for a plot in Kommunarka. In the meantime, we share the impressions of Editor-in-Chief Julia Tarabarina, who managed to conduct a public talk. Though technically focused on the interaction between developers and architects, the public talk turned into a discussion about the pros and cons of architectural competitions.

Object

Terraced Design

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A Kremlin’s Core and Meteorite Fragments

We continue our coverage of the competition projects for the residential district that the development company GloraX plans to build along the embankment of the Rowing Channel in Nizhny Novgorod. ASADOV Architects approached the concept through a deep dive into local identity, using storytelling to pinpoint a central idea for the design: the master plan and composition are imagined as if a meteorite had struck a “proto-Kremlin”. Sounds weird? Find more details below!

Contest Results

The Volga Regatta

GloraX plans to develop a residential complex spanning 14 hectares along the Volga River in Nizhny Novgorod. The winning design in a closed-door competition, created by GORA Architects, features housing typologies ranging from townhouses to terraced high-rise slabs, a balance of functions, diverse ways of engaging with the water, and even a dedicated island (no less!) for the city residents.

Object

A New Track

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Report

Four Different Surveys

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Report

Scheduled Evolution

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Object

The Golden Crown

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News

Flexibility and Integration

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Object

A Step Forward

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Object

Gold in the Sands

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Object

Layers and Levels of Flight

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Object

Light and Shadow

In this article, we delve into the architectural design of the “Chaika” house by DNK ag architects, which was recently completed in 2023 as part of the collection of signature designs at ZILArt. As is well-known, all the buildings in this complex follow a design code, yet each one is distinct. This particular building stands out not only for its whiteness and minimalism but also for the refined use of a limited number of techniques that, together, create what can confidently be called synergy.

View

Casus Novae

A master plan was developed for a large residential area with a name of “DNS City”, but now that its implementation began, the plan has been arbitrarily reformatted and replaced with something that, while similar on the surface, is actually quite different. This is not the first time such a thing happens, but it’s always frustrating. With permission from the author, we are sharing Maria Elkina’s post.

Report

Treasure Hunting

The GAFA bureau, in collaboration with Tegola and Arkhitail, organized an expedition to the island of Kilpola in Karelia as part of Moskomarkhitektura’s “Open City” festival. There, amidst moss and rocks, the students sought answers to questions like: what is the sacred, where does it dwell, and what sustains it? Assisting the participants in this quest were landscape engineer Evgeny Levin, artist Nicholas Roerich, a moose, and the lack of cellular connection. Here’s how the story unfolded.

Object

Depths of the Earth, Streams of Water

In the Malaya Okhta district, the Akzent building, designed by Stepan Liphart, was constructed. It follows a classic tripartite structure, yet it’s what you might call “hand-drawn”: each façade is unique in its form and details, some of which aren’t immediately noticeable. In this article, we explore the context and, together with the architect, delve into how the form was developed.

Object

Fir Tree Dynamics

The “Airports of Region” holding is planning to build an airport in Karachay-Cherkessia, aiming to make the Arkhyz and Dombay resorts more accessible to travelers. The project that won in an invitation-only competition, submitted by Sergey Nikeshkin’s KPLN, blends natural imagery inspired by the shape of a conifer seed, open-air waiting spaces, majestic large trees, and a green roof elevated on needle-like columns. The result is both nature-inspired and WOW.

Object

A Brick Shell

In the process of designing a clubhouse situated among pine trees in a prestigious suburban area near Moscow, the architectural firm “A.Len” did the façade design part. The combination of different types of brick and masonry correlates with the volumetric and plastique solutions, further enhanced by the inclusion of wood-painted fragments and metal “glazing”.

Report

Word Forms

ATRIUM architects love ambitious challenges, and for the firm’s thirtieth anniversary, they boldly play a game of words with an exhibition that dives deep into a self-created vocabulary. They immerse their projects – especially art installations – into this glossary, as if plunging into a current of their own. You feel as if you’re flowing through the veins of pure art, immersed in a universe of vertical cities, educational spaces – of which the architects are true masters – and the cultural codes of various locations. But what truly captivates is the bold statement that Vera Butko and Anton Nadtochy make, both through their work and this exhibition: architecture, above all, is art – the art of working with form and space.

Object

Flexibility and Acuteness of Modernity

Luxurious, fluid, large “kokoshniks” and spiral barrel columns, as if made from colorful chewing gum: there seem to be no other mansion like this in Moscow, designed in the “Neo-Russian-Modern” style. And the “Teremok” on Malaya Kaluzhskaya, previously somewhat obscure, has “come alive with new colors” and gained visibility after its restoration for the office of the “architectural ecosystem” as the architects love to call themselves. It’s evident that Julius Borisov and the architects at UNK put their hearts into finding this new office and bringing it up to date. Let’s delve into the paradoxes of this mansion’s history and its plasticity. Spoiler: two versions of modernity meet here, both balancing on the razor’s edge of “what’s current”.

Interview

Yuri Vissarionov: “A modular house does not belong to the land”

It belongs to space, or to the air... It turns out that 3D printing is more effective when combined with a modular approach: the house is built in a workshop and then adapted to the site, including on uneven terrain. Yuri Vissarionov shares his latest experience in designing tourist complexes, both in central Russia and in the south. These include houseboats, homes printed from lightweight concrete using a 3D printer, and, of course, frame houses.

Object

Moscow’s First

“The quality of education largely depends on the quality of the educational environment”. This principle of the last decade has been realized by Sergey Skuratov in the project for the First Moscow Gymnasium on Rostovskaya Embankment in the Khamovniki district. The building seamlessly integrates into the complex urban landscape, responding both to the pedestrian flow of the city and the quiet alleyways. It skillfully takes advantage of the height differences and aligns with modern trends in educational space design. Let’s take a closer look.

Object

Looking at the Water

The site of Villa Sonata stretches from the road to the water’s edge, offering its own shoreline, pier, and a picturesque river panorama. To reveal these sweeping views, Roman Leonidov “cut” the façade diagonally parallel to the river, thus getting two main axes for the house and, consequently, “two heads”. The internal core – two double-height spaces, a living room and a conservatory, with a “bridge” above them – makes the house both “transparent” and filled with light.

Object

The White Wing

Well, it’s not exactly white. It’s more of a beige, white-stone structure that plays with the color of limestone – smoother surfaces are lighter, while rougher ones are darker. This wing unites various elements: it absorbs and interprets the surrounding themes. It responds to everything, yet maintains a cohesive expression – a challenging task! – while also incorporating recognizable features of its own, such as the dynamic cuts at the bottom, top, and middle.

Object

Urban Dunes

The XSA Ramps team designed and built a three-part sports hub for a park in Rostov-on-Don, welcoming people of all ages and fitness levels. The skate plaza, pump track, and playground are all meticulously crafted with details that attract a diverse range of visitors. The technical execution of the shapes and slopes transforms this space into a kind of sculptural composition.

Object

Proportional Growth

The project for the fourth phase of the ÁLIA residential area has been announced. The buildings are situated on an elongated plot – almost a “ray” that shoots out from the center of the area towards the river. Their layout reflects both a response to Moscow’s architectural preferences over the past 15 years, shifting “from blocks to towers”, and an interpretation of the neighboring business park designed by SOM. Additionally, the best apartments here are not located at the very top but closer to the middle, forming a glowing “waistline”.

Object

The “Staircase” Building

In designing the “Details” residential complex in New Moscow, Rais Baishev spiced up the now-popular Moscow theme of a “courtyard” building with an idea drawn from the surrealist drawings by Maurits Escher. He envisioned the stepped silhouettes and descending slopes as a metaphysical mega-staircase, creating a key void within the courtyard that gave the project an internal “spine”. This concept is felt both in the building’s silhouette and on its façades.

Object

Projection of the Quarter

No one doubted that the building that Vladimir Plotkin designed as part of the “Garden Quarters” would be the most modernist of all. And it turned out just that way: while adhering to the common design code, the building successfully combines brick and white stone, rhythmically responding to the neighboring building designed by Ostozhenka, yet tactfully and persistently making a few statements of its own. This includes the projection of the ideal urban development composition “14–9–6”, which can be found right next door, mathematical calculations, including those for various types of terraces (and perhaps the only reminder of the Soviet past of the Kauchuk rubber factory!), and the white “cross-stitch” pattern of the façade grid.