A SCHOOL EXTENSION COMPETITION, Berlin 1994
1st prize. (in collaboration with Multhaup & Niebuhr architects; team leader & responsible for the project design)
The brief called for an extension with more classrooms but the aim was to respect the classical and nearly monumental presence of the existing school building within the city block by not altering it. This was achieved as follows:
· Sinking the surrounding landscape 4 meters, the basement became the ground floor with a new entrance and more classrooms.
· The resulting natural slope between the higher street level and school is retained by a new long porch which integrates the main school building with the smaller administration block facing the street. The workshops which were in the basement would be moved here and accessed independently from this porch. Since these are now separate spaces, they can be further used for neighborhood activities when the school is closed. The adjacent gardens extend over these new spaces producing a more harmonious integration between the school grounds and its surrounding gardens.
· The classrooms are extended with a wooden structure clipped onto the existing wide corridors for lockers and storage space.
