Elementary School and High School Stuttgart. Living place of learning as a teaching tool.
One of the largest school centers in Baden-Württemberg was built southwest of the state capital Stuttgart. What is special about this project is that German and American standards apply to the building complex.
When planning schools at military locations abroad, there must be no compromises in the quality of life for employees and their families. This guideline applies to sports and leisure activities as well as social and cultural facilities. The school center in Böblingen, southwest of Stuttgart, which opened in autumn 2015, consists of an elementary school and a high school for up to 1,500 students from the entire metropolitan region.
For both educational institutions, a complex designed as a ribbon with two levels for school and administration was built in each case. The two building ensembles run parallel in an east-west direction. A central access and communication axis is formed between them. A connecting building houses the central kitchen and a larger multipurpose room for each school. Several separate gymnasiums complete the space program. An auditorium for theater and music events is available for joint use. This closes off the complex to the east.
The classrooms and specialist rooms are housed in the individual wings, which interlock with the surroundings through the comb-like arrangement. This is what makes the school so special: Transparency and large window areas create a successful link between outdoor space such as meadow, forest and interior.
The course of the terrain is taken over here by several generous ramps and staircases. Despite many elevation changes, all levels, both indoors and outdoors, are accessible without barriers. Consequently, the facades and interior spaces are designed to be as transparent as possible. The interior design is also characterized by transparency and natural surfaces. Exposed concrete, wood and glass alternate, providing calm and space for creative design by the children. The school functions as a "teaching tool": In various areas of the school complex, energy consumption of the building can be read on screens, ecological content and cycles of nature are communicated in a striking way, and the examination of environmental factors is encouraged.
The school is accessible for pedestrians and cyclists via an underpass from Panzer Kaserne. A bus parking lot with capacity for up to 50 school buses is located directly in the western entrance area of both schools, as is a large car parking lot for teaching staff and parents.
More views
Sports hall
School campus Willy-Hellpach-School
Municipal school buildings
School Campus East
