The Schmuttertal Gymnasium in Diedorf is a school with model character. It achieves the goals of sustainability and pedagogy with the very own means of architecture: rooms that can be used in a variety of ways offer space for independent learning, and the clear structure of the timber frame construction allows it to react to new pedagogical concepts in the future. In order to increase acoustic comfort, the surfaces of the rooms were developed in an elaborate process. As a plus-energy house, the Gymnasium Diedorf generates more energy than its operation needs.
Learning landscapes form the didactic framework in which the young people learn to learn themselves. In this way, they acquire methods for acquiring knowledge and actively participating in lessons – throughout their lives. Participation began with the planning: In a participatory process, the learners and teachers helped determine the shape of their school.
In order to achieve these ambitious goals, architecture and technology are in harmony: the basis for this is integrated planning, which brings spatial, static and technical aspects under one roof. How these factors interact at the Schmuttertal Gymnasium is being investigated by the German Federal Environmental Foundation as a research project – so that the "Diedorf" model can also be made usable for other schools. The only constant is change. This truism has far-reaching implications for the architecture of school buildings: planners must anticipate the future of education while still designing clear structures and precisely tailored spaces for the present. As a public building, a school building should also meet requirements for energy and social sustainability. The grammar school in the market town of Diedorf in the district of Augsburg fulfils all these requirements as a timber construction with a strong and coherent structure.
Four buildings, one principle
The grammar school consists of four buildings: two classrooms, a gymnasium and a wing for central uses. As a result, the considerable volume of around 80,000 m³ fits in well with the sensitive landscape on the edge of the Augsburg Nature Park. The combination of large volumes with slightly sloping roofs quotes the agricultural buildings in the region – the three-storey buildings maintain the proportions of the barns to which they refer, even if they are much larger.
A grid of 2.70 m runs through the entire school complex from east to west. This repeat connects the four houses as the smallest, continuous unit. In the opposite direction, the width of the grid varies depending on use. For example, the classrooms are made up of nine fields, each with a field size of 2.70 m x 2.70 m (3 by 3). Larger rooms such as learning landscapes and auditoriums, on the other hand, extend over several fields, which have correspondingly higher beams depending on the span. [...]
[Source: Hermann Kaufmann + Partner ZT GmbH] (https://www.hkarchitekten.at/projekt/schmuttertal-gymnasium-diedorf/)
Photos: Carolin Hirschfeld, Stefan Müller-Naumann
