Architecture firm Aflalo/Gasperini signs the new design of international Avenues school: The World School, at a quiet and tree-lined area in the Cidade Jardim neighborhood, in São Paulo. The São Paulo unit, opened in August, is the second in the world, made of sustainable, pleasant environments that boost students? creativity.

The challenge of this design was to turn the existing structure of an office building into a school with a diverse, dynamic and interconnected program. The architectural solution was retrofitting the building, distributing the different grades of primary and secondary schools along the floors. Internal spaces were created to provide visualization and access to the different floors, driving communication and exchange between students of different ages.
A new adjacent building was created for complementary activities, with a theater, gymnasium, an indoor patio, outdoor sports courts, and patios. This dialogue between the new and the existing provides greater proximity and integration between classroom floors and common areas.

The sequence of volumes at different heights creates easy access to open areas on multiple levels, strengthening the school?s indoors/outdoors relationships. The top floors of the buildings ? with sports courts and terraces ? provide a magnificent view of the São Paulo skyline. ?The idea of leisure areas on the top floors was to create a connection between the children and the city, so that contact with external areas is, at ...