Pebble Atrium

The existing exterior atrium of Poljane Grammar School in the city center of Ljubljana, Slovenia, registered as a building of cultural heritage, used to be an asphalt surface connecting the school building and the adjacent gym. Larger school events are held here, while on regular school days it serves as a place for gathering, socializing, and learning.

The new atrium is designed as a polycentric pattern of irregular rounded triangles where "positive" and "negative space" is formed. Positive white space, in the form of soft triangular shapes, "pebbles", offers various sitting typologies: bench, stage, platform, hill, or hollow, while negative black space connects the triangular elements into one urban landscape.

With the proposed polycentric pattern, we were able to meet the project brief, which required a one-meter distance from the facade, various program islands for interaction, shading canopies, and no fixed orientation. The graphically expressed urban topography becomes the new fifth facade of the building, visible from all inner school windows, while remaining deeply hidden within the strict and solid architecture of the 19th-century school typology.

A range of low-maintenance plants was carefully chosen for the rather shady and limited growing conditions. We selected deciduous species that change throughout the year and bring life, energy, dynamism, and diversity (early leafing, flowering during the school year, autumn colors) to the school grounds.