NEW SECONDARY SCHOOL
The design for the ‘Neues Gymnasium’ draws directly from the qualities of the surrounding landscape of the geological garden: the distortions of the strata and slopes of the natural monument are continued in the arcing lines of the building so that it blends with the landscape to form a whole suffused with an atmosphere of dynamic tension
The ‘Neues Gymnasium’ consists of two interlocking three-storey ring-shaped volumes. From the west a spacious glazed entrance leads directly into a multi-storey hall that is illuminated by a translucent, air-cushion membrane roof. The assembly hall, refectory area and school café are grouped around this space and can be linked to the main hall as required by shifting mobile partitioning walls.
Open galleries, gently curving walls, terraced floor surfaces and a wide sculptural stair underline the communicative atmosphere of this space. In the quieter eastern ring, the rooms are grouped around a green internal courtyard. The music and art rooms are located at ground level with a direct connection outside; the classrooms are arranged on the upper floors. Equipped with a well-insulated airtight façade, external solar shading elements, controlled ventilation and passive night-time cooling, high-mass concrete floors with good thermal retention properties, waste heat recovery and a solar power plant, the building has been designed to fulfil passive-house energy standards.
