The SmartCity school campus, consisting of a primary school and a new secondary school, implements the required forward-looking pedagogical concept for a new SmartCity district in a striking and differentiated building on Waagner-Biro-Straße and emerges as the winner of an open, two-stage competition. After the completion of the southern elementary school in the summer of 2019, the school campus will be completed by the new middle school in a second planning and construction phase.
The centre of the compact four-storey building is the two-storey multifunctional school hall as the 'heart' of the school. The school hall is directly connected to the canteen with multi-purpose function and the leisure rooms and, through the adjacent library, supports the spatial effect of the central, cross-school meeting place. Framed by the eastern forecourt and the western schoolyard and break field, the school hall is in direct contact with the outside space and reinforces the summarizing character.
The learning areas of the elementary school are arranged in clusters with overleaf views on the upper floors. Due to its location on the upper floors, each cluster has its own terrace as a complementary cluster area with an unmistakable character. The incised free class, the central schoolyard and, in the case of cluster 3, the researcher's terrace with researcher's garden.
The organization of the rooms allows for many different spatial and pedagogical interpretations. The supplementary terraces complete the identity-creating character of the school and refer to the central importance of children's access to open space.
The special position of the educational building as a monolithic structure is emphasised by the materiality and the jumping window arrangement. The two predominant window formats, together with the vertical and horizontal balance of the prefabricated concrete façade, create a distinctiveness. The robustness and durability of the building discussed above, as visible in the façade, represents an essential feature of the 'smart' elementary school and will continue in the foreseeable future in the New Middle School as the social center of the SmartCity.
Source: Alexa Zahn Architekten
Photos: Hertha Hurnaus
