The GELM Annex, located in Corozal, Puerto Rico, involves a second design built commission for the Guardería Ecológica La Mina, which is a Head Start & Early Head Start school of the Puerto Rican Family Institute. Like the first commission, this second structure had been in a state of neglect for approximately 20 years. It was a typical module of pre-designed concrete used by the Department of Education for school expansions in Puerto Rico since the 1960s. Being part of an ecological pre-school, it was decided that the footprint was to remain unchanged and the demolition, although tempting, took a back seat to the overall recovery. The building now serves as a multipurpose room for parent meetings, seminars and trainings for teachers, among other uses, while it provides storage on the first floor.
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The commission carried the challenge of designing and building within 6 months as well as developing a uniform reading of the building, that had already suffered numerous interventions over the years. In terms of design, the second floor had the potential to have a visual domain of the existing daycare structures of the head start, which consisted of one floor and the school playground area for children. We placed a concrete roof slab that extended upon the existing stairs to provide shelter from rain and sun, and created a glass volume projected into the vegetation and the playground area. In formal terms, this volume would act as showcase to the daycare causing different readings while allowing light to enter the space and enjoy the views. The challenges of harmonizing the rest of the structure bordered on its demolition, so we decided to cover the building in long lasting and low maintenance corten steel, using contemporary laser-cutting technology to develop a pattern evoking the surrounding Bamboo trees, thus allowing filtered light into the space and establishing a dialogue with the surrounding environment. Colored glass was incorporated to the screen, in reference to the colors used in the existing nursery, allowing colored light into the interior.
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