Die Blaue Schule
Organization and urban design context
Die Blaue Schule is made of a rectilinear North-South barn wrapped by blue wood boards sitting on top of a one-storey-high complex built around two sunken courtyards. The barn provides two entrances to the school complex from two streets. The first entrance from Romanshornerstrasse is the more official one, mostly for student arriving by car or bus. The second entrance from Seestrasse is more intimate, mostly for pedestrians and bikers , being somewhat hidden by the three tall trees that the projects keeps and turn into an imposing presence for both the school complex and the neighborhood.
The vast majority of the schooling activities takes place at the + 4 level, which is to say halfway between the Romanshornerstrasse (+ 8.00) and the Seestrasse (+ 0.00). The school is therefore nested inside a natural system made of wood huts, small glass pavilions, green roofs, natural vegetation of different kind and trees that shields it and hides it from the noisy Romanshornerstrasse. The school complex is virtually out of sight from the main thoroughfare: a sort of quiet, precious and hidden away environment for the very young.
The scheme proposes, in other words, a very simple identifiable scheme that makes the students feel safe in accordance with the 'green-school' model envisioned by LEEDS and other studies that proposes a didactic program integrating the different school levels into one building. This happens within the perimeter of a natural environment that allows for outdoor playing and learning by establishing a direct exposure to trees and vegetable gardens that can provide viable teaching lessons of different kind.
architectural concepts
The architectural concept stems from two archetypes of school making: the courtyard and the gallery, even though their relationship with the ground is somewhat unusual, being dictated by the site conditions.
The social and collective life of the school takes place at the courtyards level (+ 4.00). It is at this level (inside the blue barn) that the main 'heart of the school' is found in conjunction with a moveable stage in front of a staircase mixed with a series of steps that establish a 'casual auditorium' for public performances of the pupils. Circulation for the + 8.00 level overlooks the school heart, providing room for other viewpoints and other performances in two ‘wood hut’ hanging over the double height space.
The two courtyards are also at this level: the lower and middle grade classrooms are disposed around them. The south one is a green lawn for ‘outdoor learning time,’ the north one is a tartan covered playground for ‘fun time.’ A number of plying objects are set in it: a couple of wood ‘tree hut’ for the kids overlook over it. The playground courtyard is open to the landscape to the west and merges with the a system of stairs where parallel slides are located for further (competitive) fun.
The kindergarten section is located at the Seestrasse level (+0.00). The sunken gym supporting a flying pavilion (housing the administration and other class rooms) shields it from the street. The quiet, sunken Gym is a sort of detached pavilion that provides a support for an above pavilion resting on it that reaffirm the section of the structure, by maintaining the same +4.00 level for administrative and school activities. It can be accessed independently in order to be used from outside guest after school hours.
structural concepts
The structure is a mix of traditional reinforced concrete frame of post, beams, slabs technology (for the main body of the complex) and timber technology for the blue barn. Both technologies are conceived to reduced cantilever to a minimum by setting a close pace among posts in order to contain structural size and dimension. For the earth digging job prefabricated double layer panel with interior steel armature have been considered to save resources and speed the process.
school extension
Five new classrooms can be added, if needed at a second stage, above the roof of the bars framing the north side of each courtyard. These will be identical to the classroom currently envisioned at the + 4.00 level. The access to them will be guarantee by the corridor serving the +8.00 level of the blue barn. The structure of the extension is envisioned in timber technology because of its lightness.
energy concepts, ecology and sustainability
The project complies with the required current ecological standards of sustainability.
The fact that only the blue barn emerges from the ground reduces to a minimum the impact of the overall building structure on the plot that, thanks to the decision of having most of the building underground, maintains its current green status. The school building, in short, merges with the existing landscape in a natural way by reducing earth digging job to a minimum and by making room for great energy consumption gains. This choice provides the added bonus of having most of the classrooms with a north, indirect, light exposure.
Generally speaking, the project complies with the Minergie Standard.
Heat and air treatment, as well as hot water, a geothermic system is envisioned. This is fed either by recycling rain and earth water (with water reemission) or by close circuit probes of new generation (Erdwärmekörbe) that allows for a minimum excavation. The two systems are connected with two downstream located heat pumps (Waermepumpe) to which an air treatment unit (Lüftungsgerät ) located underneath the green lawn (with relative air supply chimney) is added.
A radiating floor mix with air supply and recovery is envisioned for all classrooms and administrative offices while, for the common areas, a simple air system is planned. For the gym there will be a mix system of fan coil and air treatment (Gebläsekonvektor ).
The glass walls are made of a triple layer of glass with inert gas between the layers, the K value being minor than 1w/m2. The green roof has a K value of less than 0.18 W/m2K than keeps the building fresh or warm depending on the season providing great indoor comfort. The blue barn housing the public gallery is made of a wood panel sandwich systems with 20 cm wide insulation (glaswolle) in order to achieve a K value of approximately 0.18 W/m2K.