blocher partners

All-day, inclusion and self-determined educational methods are changing the educational landscape – and its structures. The design for a new high school in Hemsbach integrates all these aspects – and replaces the existing buildings from the 1970s. Planned as a two-story, compact structure, the multi-grade elementary school features a glass façade on its ground floor, surrounding the schoolyard. What used to be merely access spaces have been turned into gathering areas, designed to encourage social interaction. They are centered around a spacious foyer whose light-flooded atrium and high quality of stay impart a strong sense of pupil identification with their school. The cafeteria, gym and multi-functional rooms for open learning supplement the all-day program. With their design, the architects managed to meet the school’s ambitious space requirements without going over budget.

The all-day elementary school can accommodate 336 pupils. Twelve classrooms are located on the upper floor; two of them are linked in the center of the space via a so-called flex room: a retreat and recreation area whose glass wall faces the corridor and can be seen from the outside through square windows in the building’s façade. On the ground floor, in addition to the entry area and foyer leading to the teachers’ and administrators’ areas, there are rooms dedicated to music and art, a teaching kitchen, the cafeteria with kitchen, and recreation and student work rooms for the all-day area.