Alderman Moorman opens international school DENISE in Amsterdam

Alderman of Education Marjolein Moorman opens The New Esprit International School (DENISE) in Amsterdam on Tuesday, July 2, at 4 p.m. Paul de Ruiter Architects transformed a 1959 educational building into a modern school that meets all contemporary requirements of educational housing and sustainability. The monumental building, designed by architect Jan Leupen, was restored to its former glory and adapted to provide sufficient space for both DENISE's primary and secondary education.

The former Cartesius Lyceum has an Order 2 status that applies to both the school building and the wing with the gymnasiums. This means that the main structure and image had to be preserved. On either side of the main entrance there are glass mosaics by Harry van Kruiningen these are designated by the municipality as post-war wall art and also had to be preserved.

The renovation
The original building had some highly valued qualities that were retained during the renovation: high rooms, large glass facades, wide corridors and the generous theater at the heart of the building.  

By lowering the ground level and modifying the existing entrance, the basement has become the new first floor that provides space for a full-fledged educational floor for primary education. All classrooms on this floor are located on the facade and can be clustered by sliding walls incorporated into the partition walls. Floor-to-ceiling glass facades provide a rich incidence of natural daylight and views. Each classroom has direct access to the playground through its own exterior door, allowing all classes to go outside independently at any time of day.

The surrounding schoolyard is rainproof designed; a nice green playground and climate proof.

Natural supply of fresh air
To provide the teaching rooms with a good climate, a new system was installed based on a natural supply of oxygen through the facade and mechanical extraction. This is done on the basis of CO₂ detection allowing the system to efficiently provide sufficient fresh air "on demand" but still be energy efficient. The air supply grilles are placed invisibly behind the blinds in the facade, the climate system is distributed vertically through the school and cleverly incorporated into the closet walls. To further improve the indoor climate, the existing window frames were replaced with new wooden window frames with insulated glass. This also reduces energy consumption. To maintain the monumental appearance of the building, the new facade elements continued the original dimensions.