Kamakura Municipal Onari Elementary School Receives the 25th JIA 25 Year Award

Kume Sekkei Co., Ltd. (Head Office: 2-1-22 Shiohama, Koto-ku, Tokyo) is pleased to announce that "Kamakura Municipal Onari Elementary School," designed by our company, has received the 25th JIA 25 Year Award.

About the JIA 25 Year Award / JIA 25 Year Architecture Selection

https://www.jia.or.jp/twentyfive_years/

Kamakura Municipal Onari Elementary School

【Designer's Comment】

We are deeply honored to receive the 25th JIA 25 Year Award on this occasion.

We express our sincere gratitude to the citizens of Kamakura who have cherished and carefully used this building for over 25 years, and to the City of Kamakura for their continuous and appropriate maintenance of the wooden architecture.

This renovation, necessitated by the aging of the former school building, brought together the wisdom of enthusiastic citizens, architects, and educational experts to pursue a new form of educational space centered around a wooden school building.

As the school adapts to changes in student numbers and educational systems, further renovations will be necessary over time. We hope that the spirit of "inheriting the original landscape of Onari Elementary School" will be passed down through the ages, and that this building will continue to be loved by the local community.

【Architectural Overview】

Name: Kamakura Municipal Onari Elementary School

Location: 19-1 Onari-cho, Kamakura City, Kanagawa Prefecture

Client: City of Kamakura (Kanagawa Prefecture)

Designer: Kume Sekkei

Contractor: Takenaka, Taiyo, Seikoh Joint Venture (Architecture)

Naurul Facilities (Air Conditioning)

Daido, Yamanoi Joint Venture (Sanitary)

Koden-sha, Shibata Denki Joint Venture (Electrical)

Takenaka, Taiyo, Seikoh Joint Venture / Kuranaami Kensetsu / Green Planning (Exterior)

Total Floor Area: 6,935 m²

Floors: 2 above ground

Structure: RC/S/W

Completion: December 1998

Awards: JIA 25 Year Award / Architectural Institute of Japan Annual Prize / Kanagawa Architecture Competition - Grand Prize

【Design Concept】

A School Inheriting History and Open to the Community

Kamakura Municipal Onari Elementary School is a traditional school founded in 1933. Its Western-style wooden school building was not merely a nostalgic relic but a beloved focal point for local residents for many years. Elementary schools are the most familiar public facilities for people and serve as the core of a community.

Consideration for renovation due to the aging of the former school building began in the 1980s. Many citizens actively participated in discussions, and in the late 1990s, renovation specialists and our team joined to pursue a new form of educational space, centered on the preservation of the wooden school building.

In this project, we have restored the exterior, which is part of the mental landscape of the local residents, and reused some of the structural and finishing materials from the old building. This ensures that the atmosphere, which allows graduates to recall their childhood days, is inherited.

Furthermore, in various parts of the school building...