This special needs educational support centre in Lower Franconia combines school, counselling and childcare under one roof. The centre sees itself as a carefully designed living environment for pupils, teachers and parents. According to the unique requirements of the school and its concept, the space is divided into a public area on the street level and a more intimate area with classrooms and group rooms on the lower garden level. The design concept takes advantage of the property’s slope in order to give the building a scale suitable for children and to create sophisticated open spaces. From the street, the school appears to be a lightweight pavilion with a wood and glass facade, which welcomes visitors with its covered entrance area and leads them into the foyer. From there all areas of the school are accessible, including the large schoolyard, which opens out to the landscape. Flanked by the multipurpose room and dining hall, the school’s central common and event area is located there. Mobile partitions allow the rooms to be used separately or to be connected in a variety of useful configurations. Via a single–flight staircase, one reaches the gymnasium, classrooms and childcare rooms on the lower garden level. Glazed multipurpose rooms lend rhythm to the circulatory spaces and dressing rooms, and provide them with natural light. All group rooms have wide facade openings with access to the schoolyard.
Frankonia Building Award of the Association of German Architects 2018 – Commendation
Negotiation procedure | 1st Prize, 2004 |
Client | Caritas Schulen GmbH |
User | Special Needs Educational Support Centre Saint Kilian |
Planning started | 2014 |
Completion | 2017 |
Total floor area | 3,300 sqm |
Planning and Realization
Project Coordination: Alfred Nieuwenhuizen
Project Management: Sebastian Haufe, Rita Wirth
Team: Lara Metell, Susanne Rang, Alexander Böhme, Tobias Steib, Sabine Zoske
Landscape architecture: Levin Monsigny, Berlin, and Arc.Grün, Kitzingen
Marcus Ebener