The extension of Edison Primary School in Onderwijzersstraat in Hoboken (Antwerp) by Korteknie Stuhlmacher was completed in 2024 on behalf of AG Vespa. Initially, the project focused on increasing capacity; the school needed to be able to offer a full two-stream primary education for five hundred pupils. In addition, dialogue with the past was also considered important: how do contemporary ideas about education relate to historical architecture?

Korteknie Stuhlmacher describes the atmosphere of the old school complex as ‘awe-inspiring and intimidating’. The early 20th-century brick building extends across the entire site, with an open playground at the front. The grounds were enclosed by a high wall on the street side. Along that side were two teachers’ houses with their characteristic stepped gables. The architects retained the nostalgia associated with this type of school building but strongly rejected the ideology behind it. The adapted school building can thus be seen as an expression of 21st-century views on education: the design focuses on open architecture with an emphasis on spaces for self-development.