Designing Learning Spaces for Brăila’s Youth

Authors’ Comment

The project proposes the extension of “Nicolae Iorga” High School in the center of Brăila, responding to both current educational needs and the urban context. The intervention adds a contemporary volume that supports high school education and acts as a catalyst for the wider community.

The concept is based on the premise that space directly influences users’ psychological and cognitive well-being, drawing on principles of neuroarchitecture and studies on spatial perception among adolescents. Beyond functionality, the project seeks to generate atmosphere, belonging, and openness.

The new volume is aligned with the site boundary and proposes a rhythmic and luminous composition. It hosts classrooms, vocational workshops (robotics, entrepreneurship, fashion), intermediate areas, a flexible library, and a public study zone. The extension is designed to remain active outside school hours, offering extracurricular activities, courses, or events for students from other high schools as well.

The intervention does not simply complete the existing program—it bridges the gap between formal and informal space, between structured learning and free exploration. The project also includes the redesign of the inner courtyard, which becomes a natural extension of the educational environment. The architectural scale is carefully calibrated to match the existing high school, and the relationship between old and new is one of complementarity, not formal competition.

Through this work, the project proposes an empathetic, sustainable architecture that is attentive to the real needs of young people, anchored in both the city and the local educational community.