Rebuilding Ukraine: Ukrainian and Lithuanian architects team up to transform war-damaged Soviet-era schools into safe, inclusive and modern shelters

On May 22, 2024, a presentation of the transformation concepts of typical Soviet schools took place. The project was started a year ago.

Rubryka reports this.

What is the problem?

More than 3,000 schools suffered damage during Russia's large-scale war against Ukraine. As they were being reconstructed, the issue arose of what should be included in the repairs and if it should be limited to just replacing windows and fixing the roof. It was discovered that most Ukrainian schools followed the standard Soviet design: cold and uninviting structures with remnants of totalitarianism, which no longer align with the needs of modern education.

^{Big City Lab, Artem Halkin}

What is the solution?

"We are not destroying the Soviet heritage; we are transforming it and giving it a new meaning," says Gilma Teodora Gylyte, founder of the Rebuild the Wonderful initiative and co-founder of DO ARCHITECTS from Lithuania.

In turn, the Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine, Oksen Lisovyi, adds: "We want to build a modern country, and we start building a modern country from a modern space."

Experts believe that five principles are sufficient to rehabilitate war-damaged schools:

• accessibility,
• secure shelters,
• fostering communication among children,
• contemporary design,
• and energy efficiency.

^{Big City Lab, Artem Halkin}

How does it work?

To bring the idea to life, the Ukrainian urban bureau Big City Lab teamed up with Ukrainian experts and the Lithuanian architectural organization Rebuild the Wonderful, which has previous experience in revitalizing old Soviet schools in their own country.

"We are not talking about supporting one school; we are talking about a platform through which the transformation of all schools will take place," said Dmytro Sakharuk, executive director of DTEK [ Ukraine's largest private investor in the energy industry – ed.], at the project's presentation.

Currently, there are approximately 12,000 schools in Ukraine. Converting these schools into new ones would cost almost 30% more than transforming them. The cost of usual reconstruction, which involves restoring the school to its previous state, is around $700-800 per square meter. In contrast, building new schools from scratch would cost $1500-1800 per square meter. However, the transformation process would only cost $1000 per square meter.

"The reconstruction of destroyed schools cannot be based on half a century-old developments. They must be modern, comfortable, ecological, safe institutions that will become a point of attraction for every schoolchild. I hope that the development of the city's school infrastructure will be our important contribution to improving the well-being of citizens," Tetiana Petruk, director of sustainable development and interaction with Metinvest Group personnel, said.

The project should be implemented in two schools in the Kyiv, Kryvyi Rih, Kharkiv, and Zaporizhzhia regions.

^{Big City Lab, Artem Halkin}

For reference:

It is worth mentioning that the BecomingX Ukraine educational platform, developed by the British educational company BecomingX, was recently introduced in Ukraine. The platform offers free access to interactive courses on digital skills and job opportunities for Ukrainians and a library of lessons for students and educators.