ALL-DAY SCHOOL

CONVERSION AND EXTENSION OF AN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

LOCATION:HAMBURG-VOLKSDORF

TYPE:SCHOOL BUILDING

AREA:520 M² GFA

CONSTRUCTION:2012 – 2015

As part of the comprehensive restructuring of various Hamburg schools into all-day schools, Schulbau Hamburg commissioned the SNAP office for the extension of the elementary school at Teichwiesen in Hamburg-Volksdorf. The new space program integrates an all-day area with a multifunctional space, a break hall, and a kitchen area. Because the existing entrance with its directly attached break hall proved unsuitable for the all-day function, it gave way entirely to a structured new building.

The clear structuring of the new building is legible directly in its outer form and allows the different functions to be used separately and to best effect. An arrangement that steps forward and is staggered within itself moves the school on Saseler Weg noticeably closer to the street and presents it as an open part of the community. The multifunctional part of the building for the school cafeteria and for theater and musical performances in particular projects clearly out of the ensemble, and so defines the central entrance area already in the outdoor space.

Large-scale glazing in the multifunctional space and in the break hall, combined with open grounds, creates maximum transparency and opens the new school building to the surrounding neighborhood. A color concept coordinated individually for the glass facades, with panes of dichroic-coated colored glass seemingly “scattered” at random into the glass facade, glowing brilliantly and throwing colored reflections of light onto the floor, gives the interior and the exterior a cheerful, high-spirited atmosphere for the young students.