Primary School Bremerhaven

Roloff • Ruffing

Redevelopment of a Catholic primary school in Bremerhaven
Grazer Straße, Bremerhaven

Competition 2009 - 1st. Prize
Completion date 2011
Gross area 3.900 sq.metres    

 
A gap which has existed for decades in the street space is sealed with the installation of the new building in the north-western area of the school grounds. As a result, two easily scanned and well-lit outer areas come into being. In order to impinge as little as possible on the resources of free space available to the inner urban point of orientation and to meet the low-energy standard striven for, we have proposed a very compact three-storey school building.
A slight bend in the volume of the buildings allows an unhindered view of St. Mary's Church. A colourful red brick facade allows the new building to blend unpretentiously into its surroundings. As a natural, authentic building material, brick has a high quality rating. In collusion with offset rows of windows and the frames distributed in them -the so-called ‚'peep-show' effect- a lively, friendly facade is brought into effect. On the roof, cones cut at an angle serve as skylights and brighten the interior of the building.

A high degree of natural lighting, attractive assembly areas, exciting spatial sequences and clear orientation within the building comprise the architectonic answer to the question put by the individualised and co-operative learning concepts pursued by the school authorities. Large, flexibly dividable individual study centres and a quiet room are offered next to the classrooms. A day school needs an attractive living space for both pupils and teachers, a building with a high degree of identification potential and character that encourages people to want to stay in it.

The building has a very favourable air-to-volume ratio. The shell of the building offers such comprehensively and uniformly good heat insulation that the heating energy requirement is considerably reduced. A low-temperature floor heating system, supported by an air-regulation plant with efficient warm-air recycling capability, avoids unnecessary losses in heating and is ideal for a school environment because it guarantees constant high-quality ventilation.