Modern Extention Inspired by the Local Building Traditions
Schenker Salvi Weber Architects
In the rural market town Bütze-Wolfurt in western Austria, Vienna-based architects Schenker Salvi Weber have enlarged a 1960s primary school with a new two-story extension which adjoins it perpendicularly. The old building’s refurbishment and the extension volume meet stringent energy performance standards.
The new 60m-long and 27m-high timber-frame volume responds to the countryside and the town. At both ends are two levels of verandas under coffered ceilings. They reveal the structure of the building, and offer children a sheltered zone for play and rest. Vertical wooden slats create an interplay of light and shadows across them. Galvanized steel stairways give direct access the garden.
The floor plans of the new building’s kindergarten and the primary school in both volumes interlock vertically and horizontally, creating numerous synergies. For example, from the first (ground) floor dressing room, children can look through big windows into the gymnasium. Likewise, the second floor has sightlines down into the kindergarten. All rooms have large windows, with broad sills that invite children to sit on them. Their internal sightlines across different floors give children an overview of activity in the building.
The school is an orchestrated spatial continuum with intimate places. Two day care and three kindergarten rooms are situated on the first floor of the old building. The extension hosts 14 classrooms and 12 group rooms on its top floor and a volleyball-height gymnasium in the basement.
The floor plan consists of three layers. At the core are the communal areas which give children direct access to the wide verandas, and tranquil courtyards which are roofed by large skylights and have benches. Square rooms with big interior windows form the second layer. The third layer is bigger classrooms with windows to the outside.
The top floor has pitched skylights. It hosts teacher’s rooms, the staff kitchen, a doctor’s room, the director’s office, the secretary’s room, workshops, and a gymnastics and multi-purpose room.
The window frames, built-in elements, furniture, and parquet floors are made of oak with a high-quality finishing by local carpenters. Ceilings carry white varnished acoustic panels. Curtains are in muted colors. Mobile shelves and rolling containers allow flexible and individual arrangements of the spaces. The outer façade, which is clad with pre-weathered spruce, is inspired by local building traditions.
Project: Bütze Wolfurt Primary School / Location: Vorarlberg, Austria / Architect: Schenker Salvi Weber Architects / Project team: Marlies Grammanitsch, Simon Gysel, Barbara Roller, Christian Rübenacker, Jana Sack, Michael Salvi, Andres Schenker, Pia Schmidt, Tina Tobisch, Thomas Weber / Statics: Hämmerle-Huster Statik / Fire safety: IMS-Brandschutz / Building services: IBO–Österreichisches Institut für Bauen und Ökologie, teamgmi Ingenieurbüro / Electrical planning: Ingenieurbüro Hiebeler + Mathis / Lighting design: Designbüro Christian Ploderer / Landscape architecture: DnD Landschaftsplanung / Client: Gemeinde Wolfurt / Gross floor area: 7,204m2 / Completion: 2019 / Photograph: David Schreyer
