Description

At the Grundschule Schulzendorf the school has been transformed from a tired 1960s school building into a refreshing and inspirational learning environment. The structure of the original H-shaped slab building was a simple concrete frame clad in rendered brick and single-glazed metal windows. The architects proposed two simple moves, the first to retain the existing structural elements and the second to envelop the building in a new highly insulated skin. The structure is stripped back to the essential frame and floor slabs. Two new linear elements are added to either end of the H-plan, creating two light wells in the middle of the building plan. These atria help to open up the centre of the building and define the building’s horizontal and vertical circulation. The building is then encased in generous layers of insulation before the last skin of woven willow. This willow skin refers to the traditional industry in the area of willow harvesting, making a building that is at once overtly modern and yet highly contextual.

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Originally published in: Prue Chiles (ed.), Leo Care, Howard Evans, Anna Holder, Claire Kemp, Building Schools: Key Issues for Contemporary Design, Birkhäuser, 2015.