A vibrant centre for learning, sports and community life in Leefdaal

The masterplan strengthens the green spaces and brings a clear structure to functions and circulation. Each function has its own entrance, identity and dedicated outdoor areas. The primary school forms a long, stepped volume set perpendicular to the Dorpstraat, overlooking the playground and the park, with a public forecourt as an arrival zone. In the quieter zone behind it lies the nursery school, reached via a car-free side lane and a small entrance square. Each nursery classroom has its own little garden. Along the Dorpstraat sits the multipurpose pavilion, with sports and community hall, dining hall, kitchen, multipurpose room and youth centre with roof terrace: a new meeting place in the village centre. A sequence of linked volumes with varied roof forms matches the village scale. A single facing brick, laid in different bonds, creates cohesion while allowing each building to retain its own character.

By clustering the functions into a compact building block, maximum open space is preserved for a green playground that connects both schools and the multipurpose building. The play area follows the natural slope, retains valuable trees and is enriched with new planting. Beneath the canopy, there is a tree crater, an outdoor classroom and play mounds. After school hours, the playground can be opened to the neighbourhood, giving it a truly public character. The park along the Voer remains untouched. The positioning of the building volumes creates sightlines between the village centre and the park and ties in with new walking paths.

Compact volumes, shared use and abundant greenery are at the heart of this project’s sustainability. A well‑insulated building envelope, carefully placed window openings, solar shading and natural night ventilation prevent overheating without active cooling and result in a right‑tech design in which means and ends are in balance.

The new buildings support new ways of learning. In the nursery school, the classrooms are arranged around the “play plaza”: a wide, covered space closely connected to the classrooms and the outdoors, which can be used as a playground, performance area, reception zone or shared project space. In the primary school, circulation areas are deliberately generous so that the “learning plaza” becomes a true extension of the classrooms. Different zones accommodate a wide range of learning activities, from dynamic group work to quiet concentration areas.

Special attention was paid to acoustics, which is clearly appreciated by the users.

Young and old come here to learn, play, do sport and meet in a vibrant new village centre. Building on a carefully considered masterplan, shared use of space and a right‑tech philosophy, a generous shared play and stay area emerges for both school and neighbourhood. Flexible learning environments support contemporary pedagogy and make the site a future‑oriented investment in the community.