Shibukawa Eder Architects

Description

The campus was planned based on the City of Vienna’s new «Campus Plus» model for accommodating kindergarten, elementary and middle school as well as music school within one building. The school is a simple, distinct, south-facing terraced building that steps down every two storeys. There are spacious terraces on every second floor directly connected to the classrooms and recreation spaces with big windows, creating a landscape together with the promenade and the outdoor playground. In contrast, the northern façade has smaller windows to avoid noise from the railway that runs along the north side of the site. In order to integrate the building into the topography, the entrance area is divided into two main levels for both inside and outside. Cafeterias, creative rooms and large open learning spaces are located in the centre of the building. In the clusters between classrooms, multi-purpose spaces of various sizes offer room for children to learn, eat, play and chill out. The clusters are designed to be as open and transparent as possible. Visual connections through many windows around the classrooms promote communication between the children. Around the cores, children can run around to find friends and activities. The south-facing façade has wide eaves and green curtains to counteract summer overheating; these are integrated with the handrails to create a porch-like space in-between the outdoor and indoor spaces where children can enjoy different activities.