"Rexhep Mezini" School

Located on the top of a gentle hill in the small village of Ishëm, Durres, 'Rexhep Mezini' school contains one of the most complex programs as a public school as it gives education to a wide range of pupils, from 5-18 years old. For this reason, creating a sense of a whole entity that is at the same time clearly composed of independent parts became the basis of the conceptual approach to designing this small but complex educational facility.

The school program is distributed into a balanced composition, without affecting the entirety of the natural greenery surrounding the site, by creating ample spaces for separate age groups that share a common courtyard positioned at the heart of the facility. A variety of outdoor areas with different degrees of privacy surround the building volumes, as a buffer between the surrounding wild nature and the presence of the building.

The program is organized to allow for independent activities, serving at the same time as a community centre for extracurricular purposes. The first building volume where the main entrance is located accommodates a library positioned on the ground floor and an activity room on the second floor, to be shared by both pupils and the village community.

The school accommodates up to 50 children in the preschool cycle and 288 pupils in the primary and secondary cycles, for a total of 338 attendees. The two building volumes hosting the classrooms are placed in the plot based on the requirements for optimal orientation and each is provided with a dedicated entrance serving the different age groups. The interior circulation spaces are positioned around the central courtyard in the form of large corridors connecting the indoor to outdoor spaces too while providing these areas with natural light.

These perimetral corridors serve only one row of classrooms - a design decision that has led to an increase in the amount of space dedicated to circulation but is bound to improve social interaction and invite spontaneous activities during recess.

In a plot of 3900 sqm, the footprint of the building is 1610 sqm, with a total area of construction of 4477 sqm. The school investment is carried out under the Reconstruction Program of the Albanian Government, funded by KfW Investment Bank in collaboration with the Albanian Development Fund (ADF) as the project executing agency.