A school in the middle of a rural area, surrounded by dense rainforest, in Brazil has won the Building of the year award from Riba.
The building, a boarding school that provides accommodation for 540 disadvantaged children, is based on a farm surrounded by dense rainforest in Tocantins state.
Made mostly from timber glued together, the building features three landscaped courtyard gardens. The rooms are ventilated using perforated brickwork, which is handmade on site, and feature specially-designed furniture, with each dorm individually distinguished by uniquely-patterned door panels. A series of sculptural timber staircases connect to the upper level of walkways and balconies, which provide views across the site and over the courtyards.
Judges praised the structure, designed by architects Aleph Zero and Rosenbaum, for its “humble heroism”.
Gustavo Utrabo, an architect at Aleph Zero, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation that the building was “improving the quality of life of the kids”.
“We tried to make a new feeling and a contemporary interpretation of the traditional ways of building in this area of Brazil,” Mr Utrabo said.