PRECEDENT STUDY

By investigating case study school in Germany, I identified the categorised and developed various strategies, tools and mechanisms employed by the author. These strategies will be further applied in later design stages.

Case Study

School: Schäfersfeld Secondary School & Progymnasium

Architect: Behnisch & Partners

Location: Lorch, Germany

Year Completed: 1982

Behnisch & Partners had constructed a primary school in Lorch in 1960: the Stauferschule on the River Rems. One of its wings was heightened in 1992. The Progymasium auf dem Schäfersfeld was built in 1973. Three years later a sports hall was constructed and in 1982 the Hauptschule (Secondary School) was erected. This unusual continuity reveals the trust the town of Lorch maintained in the architects. The school and sports areas lie on a hill. They dominate the town and the Rems valley towards the south and are surrounded by grazing areas for sheep and wooded slopes towards the north. The three buildings on the site were connected to each other by a park with undulating landscape, large stones, trees and shrubs. The fields, covered in daisies, invited people to rest.

Topography

1:2000 Site Plan

The school and sports areas lie on a hill. They dominate the town and the Rems valley towards the south and are surrounded by grazing areas for sheep and wooded slopes towards the north. The three buildings on the site were connected to each other by a park with undulating landscape, large stones, trees and shrubs. The fields, covered in daisies, invited people to rest.

SUNLIGHT ORIENTATION

1:2000 Site Plan

Located at 48.8N, 9.69E on the Northern Hemisphere, Lorch has large differences in sunrise and sunset times between summer and winter, as sun rises and sets at 5:47 and 21:58 in summer respectively and rises and sets at 8:41 and 16:56 respectively in winter.

Schafersfeld Secondary School

The major learning spaces are arranged around a triangular atrium in a triangular geometric pattern, with the music room being located at the tip of the triangle to enjoy the best vistas to the town and Rems Valley and the most abundant sunlight. This presents a hierarchical spatial arrangement in which the music room has higher eminence than the other learning spaces (classrooms) of the schoo l.

I beams

Fabric Curtain

Steel Truss

Brickwork, Scrambled concrete walls

Glass

Steel Frame

Wooden panels

Construction Details

Numerous materials come together in the rooms: the dividing walls between the classes consist of brickwork or pastel-coloured, scrambled concrete and the walls towards the hall are wooden. The facades are glazed-in and the steel construction is visible everywhere. Small glass triangles were worked into the wooden doors, behind the aluminium door handles. This small geometric detail reflects the ground plan of the school.