Schoolbuilding (AHS) Contiweg

The glass facade is entwined by lentiform shapes, welcoming the roughly 1000 students of the high school on Contiweg. The new school in Hirschstetten was designed by Atelier Heiss Architects as a two-building construction with a horizontal emphasis. The glass atrium with the clear cut roof creates an architectural identity in an area with very little accentuated architecture. The school library sits above the glass three-storey atrium of the foyer like a treehouse. This light-flooded space grants a view of the surroundings through the lentiform openings. The greened insides of the extravagant roof are only visible to the users of the library, like in a hortus conclusus. Bridges in the atrium provide a connection between the two wings of the building, and big white plastic chandeliers levitate over the entrée as a quiet greeting from Vienna. The inner courtyard, framed with stage and terrace elements, gently leads via an outside staircase to the outdoor sports facilities. A clear orientation and variety in everyday school life is given by the positioning of the rooms. While the homerooms offer a view of the nurseries and the scenery of Hirschstetten, the classrooms for special education look out on the courtyard. The seating alcoves in the wide hallways introduce additional areas for communication during recess. The lentil shapes as a decorative Leitmotiv can be found on the facade and in the interior of the building. They give the school its special profile and provide for an unmistakable identity at a remote location. By September 2010 at the latest, the meeting point for high school kids will be at the „Conti School“.