ArchiGlobal's "School-on-Water" Wins USC-SHS Building Design Competition
USC Senior High Building
AUGUST 17, 2018. The recent implementation of the K-to-12 Program in the Philippine educational system entailed a demand for additional learning facilities in many schools throughout the country. In answer to a possible surge in the number of enrollees brought about by the new curriculum, the University of San Carlos called for a competition to design a much-needed Senior High School building; a structure that would accommodate at least 50 additional classrooms, service rooms, laboratories and circulation spaces. Located within the university's Talamban campus, the site deemed feasible for the project was a valley in a forested area that used to be a waterway and is studded with detention ponds.
Based on the concepts and requirements formulated by USC's preparatory team, the University invited five competing architectural studios to submit their ideas. These architectural firms included renowned and well-regarded architects from Cebu and Manila, ARCHIGLOBAL, among them.
ARCHIGLOBAL won the tender with their winning proposal, prepared by Ar. Ritche Sienes and his team. The project was praised by the Jury for its pleasing appearance suitable for secondary education and its openness to the existing statues of Saint Arnold and Saint Joseph, the founders of the SVD. The design's simple and safe solution to the basic environmental problem of integrating the detention ponds with a four-storey educational complex caught the attention of the clients. The proposed structure was designed to be raised up on stilts around the ponds, providing an unobstructed space beneath for the waterways that channel storm water down from the neighboring mountain areas. This generated the building's form: with two wings that wrap around it, cascading to follow the existing terrain. To quote a line from USC's Lantawan Magazine issue: “Archiglobal's “low-key” design which highlights community life, effective teaching, and mindfulness of its natural surroundings clearly articulate USC's vision of an efficient but not extravagant school.”
The new Senior High School building for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) strand will soon rise in Talamban Campus as the groundbreaking ceremonies were held last January 29, 2019.
