Bucha School – Rebuilding Education in Ukraine
- Location Bucha, Ukraine
- Type Educational
- Size 15 236 m²
- Year 2022 - Now
- Status Design Phase
- Client Support Fund for Bucha School
- Project lead Viktorija Blažienė
- Authors Viktorija Blažienė, Goda Pazukaitė, Austėja Pauliukevičiūtė in Collaboration with Baust Architects and Martins Architecture
Bucha, a town in the Kyiv region, was one of the first to face the russian army and suffer from it. After the de-occupation, numerous pieces of evidence of civilian killings, torture, and other crimes emerged. The housing stock suffered greatly, as did the social and educational infrastructure of the city - 14 schools in total were damaged during the occupation. The Bucha School is a collaborative, pro bono initiative.
Designed with a focus on sustainability and resilience, the school will be the first in Ukraine to achieve an A-class energy efficiency rating, aligning with the European Commission’s Nearly Zero Emission Standard (NZEB). The facility will generate its energy from renewable sources, ensuring zero negative environmental impact. Beyond its educational purpose, the Bucha School is envisioned as a community hub, featuring spaces for sports, cultural events, and social gatherings. The design emphasizes safety, inclusivity, and modern educational principles, providing a nurturing environment for children affected by the war.
This project exemplifies international solidarity and the power of design in healing and rebuilding communities. For more information or to support the initiative, please visit buchaschool.com.
A new modern school will replace old soviet type and damaged education infrastructure in Bucha, rebuild a social fabric for the community, and create additional capacity for 720 pupils in school and 160 in kindergarten.
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UNECE PPP and Infrastructure Award, 2025 -
Project is supported by the Bucha City and Ministry of Education & Science of Ukraine
Turning Challenges into Classrooms: The Bucha School Story
The school expands access to free basic education services, providing a safe and inclusive learning environment. This ensures that children, especially internally displaced and vulnerable, have access to quality education.
All day school principles and underground shelter always foster education. A safe and fully equipped shelter enables kids from the region to finally restart offline education at all times and reduces burden from parents.
Despite being uncommon practice in the region, technical design has received A energy class certificate (highest in Ukraine), to meet Nearly Zero Emission Building (NZEB) standards. It is first such school in Ukraine. Certification of Breaam and Fitwell to ensure worldwide known standards.
In a war time and rapidly changing numbers of pupils in the town - multifunctionality, and fast adaptation to different challenges was a key goals to be achieved in design phase.
The school features modern education spaces, designed to foster innovate teaching methods. This enhances overall learning experience and ensures that all children, regardless of their socio-economic status, receive a high-quality education.
Empowering the Community
- August 2022, Partnership Agreement signed between Bucha City and Support Fund
- December 2022, Workshop with Stakeholders in Bucha
- February 2023, Hands on the School Workshop
- November 2024, Introducing Interior Design of the School
- December 2024, Bucha Forest Classroom Kick - Off
- February 2025, Construction Permit Received
On August 18th, 2022, a memorandum of cooperation was signed between Bucha mayor Anatoliy Fedoruk and Aivaras Karalius, a representative of an investment company from Lithuania and Member of the Management Board of Bucha School.
With this memorandum we established collaboration between the charity organisation «Support fund for Bucha school» and the City Council for the construction of a school and a kindergarten in a new neighbourhood of Bucha.
The first workshop was held in Bucha with local authorities, community and educators. During the workshop, preliminary needs were identified, and a sketch of a new school and partnership has been drawn.
The second workshop with displaced children of Ukraine in Vilnius Gravitas School was organised to learn about the needs of the future school in terms of outdoor and indoor spaces, formal and informal learning areas, multifunctionality of school spaces.
the third workshop took place in one of the existing schools in Bucha with the local pupils and teachers. The main goals of the workshop was to present the interior design of the Bucha School. The children examined each floor plans in detail and shared their feedback and novel ideas for a further improvement of the interior design.
A grant from European Commission under the program of New European Bauhaus to build a smaller scaled classroom for nature lessons was grated and to be implemented by the end of 2025.
After receiving a positive expertise conclusion, all necessary approvals from the Municipality, and finally the Building Permit, the Bucha School project is now ready to move into the construction phase.
