Niels-Stensen-Grammar School

Roloff • Ruffing

Hastedtstraße, Hamburg-Harburg

competition 2008 - 1.price
completion 2011
gross floor area  1.phase   4.140 qm
                         2.phase   7.750 qm

An imposing, angular school building will fill the gap in urban development between Haeckelstrasse and Goeschenstrasse. The existing buildings of the former fire station are to be both formally and functionally integrated in an ensemble of old and new buildings – of the traditional and the modern. A representative and inviting entrance area is created by its orientation towards the adjacent green belt to the south. The school buildings so arranged enclose and protect the playground as the site’s centre of communication. This opens onto the south and west, thus offering day-long light and sun.

On the roof of the double-gymnasium, which is two-thirds sunk below ground-level and accessible via a flight of steps and tiered seating, are situated courts for street- and basketball. A single-storey structure spatially encloses the playground to the western end, providing noise-protection for the adjacent residential buildings.

With this ensemble, the recently-founded Niels-Stensen Grammar School gains a significant address in Harburg and will be represented in the suburb in a self-assured manner.

The energy-concept accords with the "passive house" standard. The compact building volume results in a relatively small number of heat-losing surfaces. All windows are triple-glazed.

Fresh air is controlled and conveyed as required via a Trisolair heat-retaining air-conditioning system, thus ensuring a constantly high quality of air without the danger of air-draft.