Primary School No. 17 in Ruda Śląska is a new development by the TKHolding studio. The building was a finalist in the prestigious World Architecture Festival 2025 competition – in the WAF Completed Buildings – School category. This is the company’s third accolade at this international competition: the Water Park Tychy (2019, read HERE) and the Water Factory in Szczecin (2024) were previously recognised.
The old, prefabricated edifice from the communist era had been deformed for decades due to intensive mining. When the skeletal structure no longer met any safety standards and was practically beyond repair, the designers proposed a completely new concept: a modular campus laid out on a chessboard plan. Each classroom is a separate, single-storey segment surrounded by its own green atrium – so that pupils have constant contact with nature and the interiors receive excellent daylight. The individual modules are connected only by a narrow building parallel to the street, which houses the administrative areas, canteen, common room, cloakrooms and kindergarten.
Flexibility in the face of mining challenges
This layout has brought an invaluable advantage: flexibility to adapt to ground movements. If necessary, a single segment can be moved, lifted or corrected, rather than repairing the entire, multi-storey block. Already during construction, the ground had dropped by several metres while coal mining was still going on under the yard. The freshly poured reinforced concrete had not had time to reach full strength when it became necessary to halt work and reinforce the structure. Every minute was precious – after all, the children were about to start the new school year in a safe facility, and the old building was already waiting to be demolished.
This difficult situation was overcome thanks to close cooperation between the City of Ruda Śląska, the general contractor Remar Construction Group, experts from the Institute of Building Technology and specialists from the Bielszowice Mine. Thanks to their commitment and action, the project was brought to a successful conclusion. Today, the school campus is vibrant, promoting the latest trends in education and showing that architecture rooted in local needs can resonate on the world stage.
From Ruda Śląska to the global arena
In November in Miami, the architects of the Polish studio will meet with studios such as Foster Partners, UNStudio, MVRDV, Renzo Piano Building Workshop and Zaha Hadid Architects. As they say, they want to prove that a ‘Silesian school over a mine’ can inspire global discussions about the future of education.
We would like to thank the mayor of Ruda Śląska, Michał Pierończyk, all the engineers, constructors and partners, as well as the concept authors from Hornik Chmura Architektura. Keep your fingers crossed for us – the World Architecture Festival 2025 lies ahead! – say the authors of the building project.
design: TKHolding
photo source: TKHolding
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