Program 

Extension of an existing, partially listed school complex as a new building / extension with new surroundings. The extension contains classrooms, group rooms, a library, a new workroom and new access to the old and new buildings.

Description

The existing school complex with the listed core school building, the multipurpose hall from the 1980s and a kindergarten was to be extended with additional classrooms. We interpreted the task in such a way as to create a new spatial order on the site: a new main entrance for the entire complex with a public entrance square on the one hand, and an intimate play and learning courtyard inside the complex on the other, with the third outdoor space being redesigned as a “green schoolroom” under the mighty existing oak tree. 

We are addressing the issue of sustainability with unagitated and economical “low tech” solutions. Large areas of glazing are replaced by “sensibly” large windows with glass with a low solar control function. A large and accessible storage mass enables passive heat storage. Night cooling and geothermal probe heating with geocooling regulate the indoor climate. To ensure the best possible system separation, we decoupled components with different lifetimes and minimized interconnected component layers (no suspended ceilings, no glued-on floors, etc.). Electrical cables were not laid in concrete, but remain accessible and traceable in a crawl space and integrated into carpentry work. Ventilation ducts are integrated into the carpentry work - for example as a bench.  The outer wall made of single-stone masonry has no other structural layers apart from an inner and outer render.