BIG rotates each level of virginia school to form cascading rooftop terraces

all images courtesy of arlington public schools / bjarke ingels group

the latest addition to architecture firm bjarke ingels group / BIG’s US-based projects is the
wilson school in arlington, virginia. the proposal will see the new five-storey building re-
establishing light and a connection with its context. the building intends to become a ‘vertical
community’, resulting in the school spreading across and stacked horizontally to maximize
central space, while creating rooftop terraces on all levels.

utilizing a method in which each level is rotated along a single hinge point. this results in the
cascading effect leading classrooms to the playing field. meanwhile, the ground plan is
manipulated in order to establish sunken courtyards and a bring daylight into the lower floors
of the school.

the effective fanning choreography of the structure will bring landscape into the school. each
of the terraces will produce a meaningful dialogue between the teaching spaces and the
surrounding nature– corresponding to the adjacent floor and facilitate with learning