Elementary school Edlach, Dornbirn (AT)
New building
Client: City of Dornbirn
Location: A-6850 Dornbirn, Edlach
Architecture: Dietrich Untertrifaller
Competition: 2012, 1. prize
Construction: 2015 – 2016
Area: 3,770 m²
Ecology: Lowest energy standard HWB 17 (17 kWh/m²/year), Climate Active Gold (980 out of 1000 points)
Programme: Cluster school for 300 pupils with 12 main classes, group rooms, gymnasium, assembly hall, library
Photos: Kurt Hörbst, Bruno Klomfar
Team
Christopher Braun, Eva Dorn, Sonja Kiel, Anna Küng, Peter Nußbaumer
Text: Gerlinde Jüttner
Partners
Statics: gbd und Nagy, Dornbirn
Building physics: Weithas, Lauterach
Building services: Cukrowicz, Lauterach
Electrics: Meusburger, Bezau
Geology: 3P Geotechnik, Bregenz
Master builder: Wälderbau Dragaschnig, Schwarzenberg
Timber construction, façade: Fussenegger, Dornbirn
Construction management: Flatschacher, Hohenems
Awards
- Staatspreis Architektur & Nachhaltigkeit , Award
- The Plan Award, Honorable Mention
New architecture for new educational concepts
In a bid to transform the Edlach elementary school into a contemporary cluster school, the main classes and group rooms form small units with a variety of spatial design options. Parallel to the existing gymnasium, the two-storey main building houses the classrooms. The link between the school and the gymnasium is the glazed, multifunctional assembly hall, which is also the entrance to the school.
Here we have realised the concept of the cluster school in an architecturally precise and economical way without completely abandoning the original building structure. For the school community, the recognisability and easy orientation in the new structure of all-day and inclusive teaching was thus retained.
The Edlach primary school was honoured with the State Prize for Architecture & Sustainability. The use of natural products and the attention to detail contribute to the harmonious and cheerful learning environment.
Clear organisation on two levels
The ground floor houses the library, special classes, meeting and staff rooms as well as cloakrooms and toilets. Two free-standing concrete staircases lead to double winged upper class floor.
The four clusters each consist of three main classes, two group rooms and a central common area. The classrooms open onto the glazed access core, which is flooded with vertical daylight and widens at certain points, thus defining zones for group work and relaxation.
Design with wood and colour
Wood is omnipresent, both in the construction and in the cladding and interior design of the classrooms. Oiled oak floors create a cosy atmosphere. The almost square floor plans allow for differentiated teaching arrangements. Short distances and a clear layout simplify the supervision of the children.
A special colour concept complements the contrasting materiality of the glass auditorium, ground-floor functional rooms in concrete and classrooms in wood: soft blue in the classes, glazes in green and yellow in the movement zones.
The assembly hall is lowered by 70 centimetres to increase the height. It is also ideally suited as an event hall thanks to the separation from the school wing.
The gymnasium, which was gutted down to the shell and completely renovated, was also clad with silver fir slats. Walls, ceilings and doors are made of light-coloured birch wood, and new ribbon windows bring light into the hall.
Covered, timber-clad balconies are cut into the narrow sides of the classroom wing, which can also be used as outdoor classrooms.
The ground floor is made of exposed concrete with internal insulation, while the upper floor of the classroom wing is a concrete frame construction with insulated, prefabricated timber elements. Angular concrete bands along the north and south façades connect gymnasium and assembly hall on the outside. They create covered transitions between the playgrounds and the school building, and in front of the gymnasium they cover the bicycles.
