Content

Secondary school

Ecological showcase project for energyefficient school construction with a special studying environment

address of building

Klaus, Vorarlberg/AT

Client

Gemeinde Klaus Immobilienverwaltungs GmbH&Co KEG

Architects

Dietrich Untertrifaller Architekten ZT GmbH, Bregenz, A

Structural design

merz kley partner ZT GmbH, Dornbirn; Mader & Flatz Ziviltechniker GmbH, Bregenz

completion

2003

The previous school building, which dated from the late 1960s, was converted into an industrial park because it was badly in need of renovation and had extremely high operating costs. For this reason, the new structure was designed for optimal functionality from the very beginning. The L-shaped structure is set back from the street. Its broad south front delineates a frontal area. The south facade is characterised by a fixed sun-protection element made of perforated copper sheeting. This appears solid from the outside but looks very transparent from the inside, in spite of a low proportion of perforations (only thirty per cent). A massive stairwell connects the wooden south wing, which contains a two-storey entrance hall and the community library (the latter in an area raised on supports), to the classroom section. The building structure is approximately thirty metres deep and has five layers of rooms – the classroom section and special classrooms located along the facades, an internal zone of functional rooms, the access area and the atrium, which extends from the top of the building down through three storeys, with walkways leading to the classrooms.A prefabricated wooden construction system represented the only way to comply with the high ecological standards and with the requirement to complete the project within only eighteen months from the start of planning. The building is a skeleton framework construction given additional rigidity by the exposed concrete stairwell cores. The nature of its construction is made apparent from the outside by the untreated sprucewood facade. This project shows that an interesting and differentiated interior spatial structure and skilful handling of materials make high architectonicquality possible in spite of the building’s compact plan and its simple outer shell. The passive house standard was achieved at a cost that was little more than that of a conventional construction,and the new building’s energy consumption was reduced by seventy per cent compared with the old school building.

Kategorija: Bildung, Familiar Material