Stelle College ‘shop in shop’ concept

Stelle College is a school for pre-vocational secondary education in Amsterdam. It is a small-scale school offering basic and middle-management vocational education to 400 pupils in a safe, attentive and stimulating learning environment. The school mainly focuses on the service, commercial and IT sectors.

NERVE CENTRE OF THE BUILDING
The building is located on the Zeeburgereiland. It has a large main hall in the middle of the building, on 3 floors. The main hall is the building’s nerve centre; the teaching areas, classrooms, canteen, conference rooms, team lounge and job plazas all lead off from the hall. Colour is used to highlight the various different areas, providing orientation points to make the lay-out clear to pupils and teachers. The main hall is a versatile area, a place where pupils and teachers can meet up, learn, have lunch, chill and organise gatherings and presentations.

SHOP IN SHOP – professional experience for pupils and customers
The job plazas are innovative elements designed to introduce pupils to the professional world. ZENBER has developed a special ‘shop in shop’ concept; a professional experience for pupils and customers alike. Creating teaching environments that resemble a professional setting will encourage pupils to learn and prepare them for a job in the outside world.

COMMUNITY FUNCTION
Stelle College also has a community function, sharing its services and activities with residents from the local community. The plinth of the building is transparent so that all the services and activities in the ‘shop in shop’ are clearly visible from the outside and the pupils can show people from the community what they are doing and what they are capable of. Local residents are welcome to visit the school during special opening hours.

Completion: 2018
Architect exterior: Rau
Architect interior: ZENBER