BIG rotates each level of virginia school to form cascading rooftop terraces

the latest addition to bjarke ingels group’s growing list of US projects is the wilson school in arlington, virginia. the proposal will see the new five-storey building re-establishing light and a connection with its context. the project intends to become a ‘vertical community’, resulting in the school spreading across and stacked horizontally to maximize central space, while creating rooftop terraces on all levels.

all images courtesy of arlington public schools / bjarke ingels group

utilizing a method in which each level is rotated along a single hinge point. this results in the cascading effect leading classrooms to the playing field. meanwhile, the ground plan is manipulated in order to establish sunken courtyards and a bring daylight into the lower floors of the school.

the effective fanning choreography of the structure will bring landscape into the school. each of the terraces will produce a meaningful dialogue between the teaching spaces and the surrounding nature– corresponding to the adjacent floor and facilitate with learning.

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