Arouca announces €9.5 million remodelling and expansion of Escola Básica e Secundária de Escariz

The Municipality of Arouca announced yesterday a €9.5 million project to remodel and extend the Escola Básica e Secundária de Escariz. With around 400 pupils, the school is set to gain a further 2,846 m² of teaching space.

Project scope and timetable

Opened in 2021, the school was originally planned to serve only the 2nd cycle. In the meantime, however, it has expanded its provision up to the 12th year, under an articulated teaching arrangement.

Most pupils come from the Arouca parishes of Escariz, Mansores, Fermedo, São Miguel do Mato and Chave, although the school also attracts students from neighbouring localities in the municipalities of Santa Maria da Feira and Oliveira de Azeméis. Once the works are complete, the site will have a total area of almost 16,000 m², following a contract which, at this stage, is expected to take 23 months.

New buildings and upgraded facilities at Escola Básica e Secundária de Escariz

Key changes include the construction of a new building for classrooms and a separate multi-purpose block, alongside a larger entrance gatehouse with a substantial covered area. The scheme also involves the refurbishment of “all existing buildings”, creating, among other facilities, a dedicated wing for specialist teaching such as music, as well as a multi-sensory therapy room.

The project further предусматривает the upgrading of the science laboratories, the addition of new technology-education rooms, and the expansion of the canteen, including the replacement of kitchen equipment and infrastructure.

Outdoor areas and the Mamoa da Urreira

One distinctive feature of the school is that the Mamoa da Urreira stands within its grounds-a megalithic funerary monument. In response, the council’s design provides a surrounding setting that will allow History lessons to be taught outdoors. “In this way, pupils can make use of the parish’s archaeological heritage and learn directly from it,” emphasised the Mayor, Margarida Belém, as quoted by Lusa.

Belém also notes that “all the volumes will be connected internally”, while outside there will be “a generous square”, complemented by a tree-lined frontage with different areas for spending time.

Wider education strategy and sustainability

The Mayor stresses that the intervention planned for the Escola Básica e Secundária de Escariz is not only about increasing the built area; above all, it is intended to deliver “the overall upgrading of that educational establishment, promoting better conditions of comfort, accessibility, safety and energy efficiency”, while providing the capacity needed “to respond to the sustained growth in pupil numbers”.

“This investment represents a commitment to territorial equity and to meeting the needs of an area of the municipality that shows strong demographic momentum, which will be further strengthened by this intervention,” said Margarida Belém to Lusa.

Describing the project as one of the final steps in the broader modernisation of the municipality’s school network, the Socialist Mayor argues that Education has been a “strategic priority” for her administration. She adds that, alongside improving working and learning conditions for the local educational community, that effort has also been guided by “principles of environmental sustainability”.

For the specific case of the Escariz school, the architectural plan therefore included “a careful selection of recycled, recyclable and low environmental-impact materials”, through which Margarida Belém wants to “reduce the consumption of natural resources, minimise the production of waste and decrease the ecological footprint associated with the construction and maintenance of the building”.