Changing rooms, Guadalaviar School

Guadalaviar School in Valencia commissioned our services to renovate the changing room located next to the gym and sports area. There was originally just one changing room shared by all pupils depending on the school timetable. For practical reasons, the school now needed two separate changing rooms. This formed the starting point for our project: how to find a way of creating two changing rooms in the existing space, ensuring that each room had enough shower cubicles, benches and toilets, as well as sinks and lockers.

A detailed examination of the floor plan prompted us to divide the original rectangular area into two very similar, almost symmetric spaces which would house the two changing rooms. We decided that the two rooms would function in an identical manner, with a large central space acting as a lobby providing ease of circulation and convenient access to the various cabins and common areas situated around the edge of the rooms. A central bench was designed exclusively by the studio as a key part of this large lobby area, using solid natural iroko wood and a lacquered steel structure. Our aim was for the bench to play a prominent role in each of the changing rooms, forming the ‘centre’ of the renovated space due to its functionality as a seat and coat rack and its careful design.

The material used for the cubicles was Formica compact board, with vertical finishes alternating between white, magenta and red, a lively combination of bright colours well-suited to the youthful environment of the school.