Page 107 - AIT0521_E-Paper

L ooking at schools as purely places of knowledge transfer is today certainly no
longer in keeping with the times. Teaching and learning – and, closely connected
Entwurf • Design Behnisch Architekten, Stuttgart
with it, the pedagogic concepts – have rapidly changed in recent years and further de- Bauherr • Client Stadt Filderstadt, Hochbauamt, Filderstadt
veloped in multiple ways. Here we as architects are wanted for rethinking architectu- Standort • Location La Souterrainer Straße 9, Filderstadt-Bernhausen
ral concepts based on the changed programmatic and content-related demands on a Nutzfläche • Floor space 4.689 m 2
modern place of education. Each new school building has to be developed as custom Fotos • Photos David Matthiessen, Stuttgart
made. Only in this way is it possible to make the architectural setting become an ac- Mehr Infos auf Seite • More infos on page 134
tive part of pedagogics, education and training and the everyday school routine as a
socially relevant cultural asset. Only in this way can schools take effect with a not to
be underestimated significance in the architectural as well as the cultural sense.

Intense search for the one, custom-made solution

The new school in Bernhausen exemplarily shows how, due to the fortunate inter-
action of different parameters, individually can be developed and site-specific iden-
tity can be established. The result of our reflections drafted the model of an open
and communicative institution which promotes the community of pupils and tea-
chers and offers a diverse choice of “learning places”. The construction task consi-
sted in a new building for a two-track elementary and comprehensive school, Gott-
hard-Müller-Schule – and thus the demolition of the existing building – for being able Lernhauskonzept • Lernhaus concept
to meet the requirements of the new pedagogic concept with all-day operation. Ex-
pansion areas for the adjacent secondary school were to be integrated as well as a
jointly used canteen and a common school campus. Under one roof, we have thus
designed premises for two different types of school, those of the elementary and of
the comprehensive school. This means that we had to find a way to emphasize what
the two schools have in common and, at the same time, to integrate some kind of
“order” to structure the building in a sensible way. The central contact point is the
foyer as a place of encounter. The open, light-flooded atrium with its spacious stair-
way serves as the distributor and is a kind of a ground-floor market square, so to
speak, representing the togetherness of teachers and pupils. With the help of the co-
lour design, it is possible to allocate the individual school zones and to assist orien-
tation. Warm shades of orange, for instance, thus mark the areas of the elementary
school whereas fresh shades of green indicate the areas of the secondary compre-
hensive school. The whole school is put into a lively-inspiring prevailing mood by
the stimulating colour tones. The individual colour design gives the individual Lern-
häuser concision and autonomy. With its organic, free architectural form, the new
building quite naturally fits into the heterogeneously developed surroundings. The
terraced structure assertively positions itself on the site and takes up reference to
the neighbourhood. The form of the building produces flowing and differentiated
outdoor spaces which ensure a merging of the landscape and the built environment.
As the heart of the new school campus, so to say, we have designed the “agora”, a
lowered courtyard which connects the two neighbouring schools as an element of Räume für die Bildende Kunst (oben) und Bibliothek (unten), ... • Rooms for the visual arts and library, ...
the scenery and a place of events.
Learningscapes and learning houses ... die Dachterrasse kann zum Lernraum werden. • ... the roof terrace can be used as a learning space.

This brings us to the most important aspect which distinguishes Gottfried Müller
Schule from the traditional “hallway schools”: learningscapes and open, communi-
cation-promoting structures characterize the inner organization in a decisive way. So-
called learning houses gather the diverse spatial offers consisting of class-, group-
and differentiation rooms and are one each available to each grade level. The spatial
arrangement was developed according to the fundamental considerations for the
newly formulated pedagogic concept and makes it possible for the staff to practice
the desired variety of methods: The architectural concept allows joint and social lear-
ning as well as approaches to teaching for individualized learning. In all this, the
topic of transparency is of great importance. Large-format windows break open the
classrooms, open up to the expanded hallway zones of the Lernhäuser. Each part of
the building can be included in the pedagogic work and is thus far more than an ac-
cess zone. With the most openness possible, teaching can “spread out” into these
zones but also onto the terraces outside so that the building becomes an enlivened
organism. The specialist rooms for fine arts on the top floor deserve special attention:
A spacious roof terrace makes it possible to relocate the class into the outside space
whereby the view of the scenery of the Filder Plateau is no doubt an inspiration.

AIT 5.2021 • 107