Description

The original school designed by Roland Rohn in 1953 was influenced by the landmark Zürich exhibition ‘The New School’ which took place in the same year. Taking its cue from the modular construction of the post war schools construction boom, Rohn designed two very different buildings, one a solid traditional structure with low pitched roofs with a long run of undersized classrooms serviced by a single access corridor on each of its two levels, similar in style to the surrounding residential buildings. The other was an altogether more interesting building; a split level modernist concrete frame construction organised around a glazed quadrangle. The two styles achieve a spatial intimacy without losing the essential principles of an undisturbed, calm teaching environment full of light and fresh air. This historical background was an important starting point for the architects. New additions which comprise a main building for communal activities including a school hall, a library and a canteen respect the materiality of the original using robust sympathetic finishes such as ceramic floor tiles and exposed concrete walls where appropriate, whilst also introducing contemporary touches such as the wood clad window reveals to soften the existing situation. It is a contextually appropriate series of modifications and additions.

One of the primary tasks for the project designers was to enlarge the existing classrooms which at around 55 square metres were simply too small to accommodate new ICT learning strategies. The enlargement has been achieved by dividing existing classrooms in two to create group rooms of 27m², one for each classroom. This works particularly well at secondary level, giving seminar type spaces to each class group which can be used for smaller ICT based self-teaching sessions.

Additional classrooms have been provided in the new block along with the aforementioned hall, library and canteen which can also be used by local residents outside school hours. The new two-storey extension adjacent to the main entrance refers architecturally to the original modernist building with its stern rectilinear façade form. The corridor bordering the quandrangle links three unequal wings: the two-storey hall in the north, the canteen and library in the south and special classrooms for crafts and the natural sciences in the west. A large wood paneled garden terrace unites users to the whole plan, creating a harmonious and satisfying new school.

---

Originally published in: Mark Dudek, Schools and Kindergartens: A Design Manual, Birkhäuser, 2015.