Education Campus Part II: Last year, we completed the new elementary school in the Puntigam district of Graz – in the meanwhile, the building permit plan for the adjacent second construction phase is complete. We will renovate and extend the existing 1950s middle school and add a new lightweight timber construction level. The project will be topped off by a new polytechnic school, which will be built on the site of the old connecting building between the middle school and the gymnasium.In the future, there will be ample space for another 350 pupils in 14 classes on campus.
The façade ties in with the already completed primary school. The large windowpanes are fitted with wooden slat elements which serve both as safety barriers and sun protection. We integrate the zone between the previously separated classroom wings into the building, creating an open, bright aula with library and dining hall, which can be reconfigured into an event space.
The four class clusters each have their own terraces, group rooms, staff rooms, and central learning landscapes. The latter are designed as flexible spaces in which the tables, round stools, and seating platforms can be arranged variably depending on the circumstances and needs. Furthermore, a semi-open, walk-in wooden box with bookshelf and pin board side panels offers additional space where pupils can retreat.
The nearly 60-metre-long corridors on the first and second floors will be transformed into “school promenades”: motoric elements, shelves for books and games, along with benches and niches turn them into versatile recess zones. The two classes of the polytechnic school are also designed as clusters with the accompanying rooms and their own terrace. The roof of the extension is greened and offers space for outdoor lessons. The slatted timber façade on this part of the building echoes the design of the incised terraces of the elementary school, thereby adding a perfect copestone to the Puntigam school ensemble.