1. Prize
Selective Competition, Zurich, 2018
Realization 2019-2024
Weyell Zipse und Atelier Loidl Landschaftsarchitekten
Photography: Daisuke Hirabayashi
The school building offers a spatial framework that incorporates the surroundings and integrates places for informal learning and usage. Characteristic element of the building is the central atrium, which is designed as an unheated intermediate climate zone. The façade-high sliding doors allow it to adapt to the climatic conditions of the seasons: Open in summer and closed in winter. This is where the children start their day, enjoy breaks and lessons outdoors. The atrium makes the environment become a part of the everyday school life. The symmetrically arranged school clusters offer spaces for the unplanned and can be constantly renegotiated and reconfigured. The building was designed to be light, efficient and flexible, with a skeleton structure made from industrially prefabricated parts. Columns, beams and ceilings form a clear, visible structure and are counterbalanced by fine interiors. Together, they form a minimalist, functional and joyful unit.