The ‘Junior School Extension Building’ for American Academy Larnaca is an integral part of a Master-Plan we have been developing in close collaboration with the Institution since 2020. In strategic terms, the Master-Plan has a three distinct yet interrelated aims: to carefully assess the existing condition, to diligently understand the Academy’s prospects and latent potentials, as well as to create a comprehensive long-term vision, which can be implemented incrementally.
The Junior School Extension constitutes the first of four Phases of Implementation. Conceptually the ambition underpinning the Project was a reinterpretation of the Academy’s architectural heritage – wherein buildings display a strong modularity and utilise arches – coupled with state-of-the-art amenities surrounded by generous playgrounds and mature gardens. In this, the Project seeks both to have its own identity, while being part of a lineage.
The integration of the building within the existing and proposed Landscape is a key component of its architecture, something which dovetails with the Master-Plan’s Second Phase – itself focussed predominantly on Landscaping and Exterior Facilities. Having said, this, a primary consideration for the Master-Plan was the expansion of the Academy’s infrastructure concurrently with an increase in its open spaces – be those playgrounds, school yard, sports facilities or green areas.