Vič Primary School: Cork and Timber in Ljubljana

Ljubljana's Vič district is a residential neighbourhood on the western side of the city, and its primary school is the largest in the Slovenian capital. Growing enrolment needed more classrooms, but the site was tight. ARP Studio designed a compact extension that fills an unused niche in the eastern facade, adding two classrooms and support spaces without disrupting the existing school. The architecture is modest, precise, and built from materials that children can touch.

The extension is a two-storey volume: a white rendered ground floor with vertical metal fins, and a timber-clad upper storey with full-height glazing. Birch trees planted along the frontage will grow into the facade over time, softening the geometry and filtering the light. Inside, cork walls, timber furniture, and generous windows create classrooms that feel calm and natural.

Before and After: Filling the Niche

The before photograph shows what the eastern facade looked like: a plain rendered wall with small windows, red metal roof, no architectural identity. The extension occupies the unbuilt gap in this facade, adding a new face to the school without replacing the old one. The white vertical fins and timber cladding distinguish the new work from the existing building. The difference is legible from the street.

The Facade: White Fins and Timber

The east facade is composed of two layers. The ground floor is white render with vertical white metal fins that provide shade, privacy, and a visual rhythm. The upper floor is timber-clad with full-height glazing set behind the fin screen. The contrast between the cool white metal and the warm timber is the facade's primary move.

The fins do practical work. They shade the classrooms from direct east-morning sun, prevent the glass from overheating, and give the children privacy from the street without closing the view. They also give the facade a depth and shadow that a flat wall would lack.

Classrooms: Cork, Timber, and Daylight

The classrooms are simple, well made, and full of light. Timber desks and chairs. Cork panels on the rear wall for pinning work and absorbing sound. White lockers along one side for storage. Full-height windows along the other, framing the birch trees and the garden.

The material choices are not decorative. Cork is soft, warm to the touch, acoustically absorbent, and durable enough to survive twenty years of primary school use. Timber desks are lighter than steel, warmer than plastic, and repairable when damaged. These are materials chosen for how children experience them, not for how they photograph.

Changing Rooms and Circulation

The ground floor contains changing rooms with grey metal lockers, timber cubbies, and bench seating. A blue floor marks the wet zone. The staircase connecting the two floors is dark concrete with a black metal slatted screen and a timber handrail. It is robust, easy to clean, and safe for small children: the screen prevents climbing and the handrail is at child height.

Landscape: Birch Trees as Facade

The birch trees planted along the eastern frontage are as much a part of the facade as the fins and timber. In summer, the leaf canopy will filter light and shade the classrooms. In winter, the bare trunks will stand as white verticals against the white fins. The building and the landscape are designed together, not sequentially.

This is the most forward-thinking move in the project. In five years, the trees will be taller than the building. In ten, they will be the first thing you see. The architecture is designed to be overtaken by its landscape, which is the right strategy for a school that wants to teach children about nature.

Plans and Elevation

The ground-floor plan shows the full school complex: the extension sits at the eastern edge, marked in bold outline, adding two classrooms and a changing room to the existing programme. The first-floor plan shows the classroom layout with desks. The elevation shows how the vertical fins, timber cladding, and planted trees compose the new facade.

Why This Project Matters

School extensions are among the most common building commissions in Europe, and among the most underdesigned. Most get built to minimum standards by contractors working from generic plans. ARP Studio's Vič extension proves that a small educational building can be materially careful, environmentally thoughtful, and architecturally distinctive without exceeding a public-school budget.

If you are designing a school extension, a small educational building, or any project where children are the primary users, this project is worth studying for its material choices (cork, timber, white metal), its facade strategy (fins for shade, trees for time), and its discipline: two classrooms, well made, nothing wasted.

About the Studio

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Project credits: Vič Primary School Extension by ARP Studio. Ljubljana, Slovenia. Photographs: Tadej Bolta.