Unterdorf Elementary School
Architect: Dietrich | Untertrifaller Architects
Location: Höchst, Germany
Type: School
Year: 2017
Photographs: Bruno Klomfar
The following description is courtesy of the architects. The Unterdorf elementary school in Höchst provides an ideal educational facility for modern pedagogic approaches. It is an uncompromising example of cluster design offering a flexible and nurturing learning environment. In an elegant, linear, one-story wooden structure, four identical teaching clusters are placed on the east side. The heart of each cluster is a top-lighted lounge with a raised roof.
Urban Context
The flat school building blends harmoniously into the loosely built environment of single-family houses. The schoolyard in front of the auditorium is connected to the Unterdorf network of paths by numerous paths. Parts of the outdoor areas and sports facilities are available to locals as freely accessible play and leisure areas.
Organization
Playful learning in small family groups characterizes the pedagogical concept. Therefor each group gets their own “house” on the east side of the building. In each of the four clusters, two classrooms, a multi-purpose room, a cloakroom with bathrooms and a relaxation area surround a central lounge. Large glazings provide visual transparency and acoustic privacy. The central lounge with its pyramid-shaped high ceiling and large skylight, allows natural light to stream into the room, offering an airy and dramatic space. The special classes and the administration are located opposite on the west side, connected to the lowered gymnasium by a spacious auditorium. Moveable walls can isolate the auditorium from the school area, offering room for external events such as lectures, readings etc. with a maximum of 120 persons. The separate access of the gymnasium enables local sport clubs to use it outside school hours.
Interior Design
Large glazing provide transparency so that the teachers can always see their students, for example, when they are learning or playing in small groups in different rooms. These visual axes also are a constant invitation to use the space in the middle, strengthening the sense of community within the cluster. Private gardens and the outdoor classrooms with direct access from each cluster blur the boundaries between the interior and exterior and integrate nature into the educational environment. From the framework of the sunken gymnasium to the children’s lockers, the same level of precision is evident in its construction details and the high-quality finishes.
Construction
Made entirely of solid timber with an untreated concrete core, the building is the result of a radical design, using mass timber as structure and finish.
The school – 100 meters long, 40 meters wide and 4.50 meters high – is constructed entirely of wood. Only for the parts in contact with the ground we used concrete. The unclad wooden construction, made of multi-layered, glued solid wood panels, remains visible in all rooms. Students benefit from a pleasant, warm atmosphere in the building, which also saves on heating costs.
Sustainability
The renewable, regional building materials dramatically reduce the “gray” energy factor. With 940 points, the school in Unterdorf has been awarded one of the highest values for a new building in Vorarlberg’s “communal building records”.
The extensively greened flat roof compensates for the higher consumption of floor space. This not only provides optimum thermal insulation and protection against overheating in summer, but is also an ideal bee pasture and an untouchable, living biotope for numerous insects.
Energy Concept
The entire school building was optimized in terms of energy and building technology. The features: highly thermally insulated components, windows suitable for passive houses with triple insulating glazing, low-temperature heating via floor, ventilation system with heat recovery and air volume control via CO² sensor, free cooling via groundwater probe, night ventilation for cooling in summer. The heating energy requirement is 16 kWh/m²a.
Pedagogical concept
With our school architecture, we aim to support new forms of teaching and to facilitate inclusion, i.e. the equal participation of all pupils and lessons tailored to their individual needs. Cluster schools offer the best conditions for this.
This pedagogical concept means teaching in small groups, flexible rooms and varied open spaces, ideally with an outdoor reference. A characteristic feature is the dissolution of the rigid spatial program: no classrooms along access corridors, but open floor plans that enable different forms of teaching and learning.
Process
A working group of teachers, community representatives and consultants was involved in the competition and the planning from the very beginning and participated regularly in the construction meetings. This close cooperation was an essential factor for the successful and fast realization. This pilot project sets a new standard for schools and hopefully acts as a multiplier for timber construction in Austria.
Project Details
- Client: Municipality of Höchst
- Location: A-6973 Höchst, Gaissauer Str. 10
- Architecture: Dietrich | Untertrifaller
- Project management: Peter Nussbaumer
- Competition: 2013, 1st Prize
- Construction: 2015-2017
- Area: 2,530 m²
- Environment: Communal building records, 940 points
- Capacity: 200 students / 8 classes + pre-school class
- Photos: © Bruno Klomfar
- Awards: Hypo Clients Award 2020, The Plan Award 2018; Big See Wood Award 2018; Wood, Design & Building Award 2017 (Canadian Wood Council)
Planning
- site management: gbd, Dornbirn / statics timber: Merz Kley Partner, Dornbirn / statics concrete: Gehrer, Höchst / HAVCR: e-plus, Egg / electronics: Hecht, Rankweil / building physics: Weithas, Lauterach / ecology: Spektrum, Dornbirn / landscape: Heinrich, Winterthur
- Execution: builder: i+R Gruppe, Lauterach / timber construction: Dobler Holzbau, Röthis / heating & sanitary: Kienreich, Lauterach / ventilation: Kranz Luft-Klima-Technik, Weiler / electrics: Aschaber, Kitzbühel
