Our Scope

– Architectural Design and Service

Architecture

The property is located on a retention area overgrown with dense vegetation. This part of Paradise Island enhances the archaic image of a tropical island covered with lush vegetation in a functioning ecological system. This section is one of the last semi-natural spaces on Paradise Island.

Every type of development should be seen with regard to this special characteristic of the property, every intervention must be aware of the ecological impact and carefully deal with the remaining natural space.

Under these conditions, we propose a single-storey building which is towered over by the tall vegetation and therefore is hardly noticeable by the surrounding public space. The buildings are terraced in order to leave the sloping terrain unchanged in its natural characteristics.

By embedding in the natural space every classroom and every common room have a view of nature.

Common rooms and corridors are not enclosed, only covered. Gatherings, joint activities and informal learning take place in these outdoor areas.

A seemingly chaotic collection of pavilions, which are in fact subject to a geometric system and whose arrangement follows a rigid grid, form the spatial framework and create a field of tension with each other. Meanwhile in their middle are the green islands of vegetation.

It mimics a small village forming a large learning landscape, the school stands confidently in the midst of the tropical landscape, which is tied together by a distinctive, large, shed-shaped roof.

This spatial fabric creates a coherent architecture whose excitement is generated by the ambivalence of openness and closedness.

The basic democratic attitude of society is determined by the morphology of the architecture. Exterior and interior spaces are of equal value, there are no spatial hierarchies, only the entrance situation is emphasized by widening, the auditorium, or agora with the seating steps, forms the meeting place and enables events of a larger scale.

Despite the wide span of the roof, the typology of the building is fragmented, the modular arrangement of rooms enables a variable system and the timber construction corresponds to the natural, ecological awareness of society.

Materiality

The mineral surfaces are limited to paths and floors. The wood is decisive both inside and outside, visible everywhere as cladding of walls and ceilings. The exposed rafters enhance the movement of the apparent undulating roof. This idea is based on the desire for a comfortable atmosphere. Teachers and students are supposed to spend most of their day in their classrooms and in their respective indoor and outdoor lounges. With the warm and natural radiance as well as the visual and haptic variety, wood enhances the sensual perception of the user.

Pedagogical concept/Organization

Modern pedagogy negates frontal teaching. Learning concepts such as modular teaching, open classrooms, flipped classrooms and similar reformatory pedagogical concepts support informal learning and promote working in groups and must provide a diverse range of space in the form of learning landscapes.

4 classrooms are grouped around a common room to form a cluster. The common room is to be used multifunctionally. It serves as a group room, is used for informal learning and can be used as a break room.

The modular design of the clusters enables system-compliant expansion with additional classrooms to the north. Pavilions can be added by respecting the grid, the roof can be extended according to the undulating movement.

The preschool classes face each other and are located at the east end of the building.

These learning landscapes are supplemented by special classrooms. In the immediate vicinity of the school entrance is the principal and the teachers’ area.

The auditorium expands into the entrance, waiting and pick-up area, break area, informal meeting place, a place for events and a retreat area at the same time. Playability is possible in several directions. The canteen opens up to the auditorium and can therefore be expanded in terms of capacity.

Nature is omnipresent thanks to the green courtyards. This is an expression of a nature-loving attitude and supports the socio-ecological development of the students.