a-plus: VS Götzendorf in timber construction

The new construction of a multi-group elementary school in Götzendorf, Lower Austria, realized by a-plus Architekten using sustainable and ecological timber construction methods, had one declared goal: to offer attractive and differentiated usable school, living and leisure spaces for pupils, teachers and school visitors. The illustrated pedagogical material and space concept is intended to be a built expression.

Local solution

The school site of the new multi-group elementary school is centrally located in the grown village and is surrounded by communal facilities such as the church, municipal office, Red Cross district office, kindergarten and village inn.

The combination of the existing building and the new school forms a protected, yet multifunctional new town center of school and extracurricular (village, market, fairground) quality. The school grounds with surrounding play, sports, break and green areas are enclosed by a morbid historic wall, which in context allows for an interesting interplay of visual relationships.

The ground-floor structure is clearly organized and child-friendly. Uses are divided into room units of the cluster typology. The spatial and color concept shapes the identity of the rooms and organizes orientation. The predominant orientation of the main rooms towards the south-west, with the covered open spaces and terraces in front facing the green space, the natural lighting of all main rooms and common areas, enable an improved energy and ecological balance, with heat recovery and passive solar use. Space heating and passive cooling are provided by brine-water heat pumps and geothermal probes.

Construction method

The new elementary school is a sustainable and ecological timber construction. Sustainable, as the school is a local center for children, the community and clubs. Ecological, as the energy comes from the ground with geothermal probes and the building was constructed using wood to conserve resources. The dry construction method for optimized construction time with a high degree of prefabrication of all Kielsteg ceilings and all CLT ceiling and wall elements made this possible. Wood as a structural material is a valuable and ecological feature of the building's interior (healthy indoor climate and good indoor air quality thanks to wooden surfaces). High interior quality and low energy indicators complement each other. The façade, in association with the wood, is finished in color and roughly structured, but plastered. Terrace surfaces and canopies in visible wood quality, stable over the long term, are designed to be durable and low-maintenance at the request of the local authority.

Spatial concept

The building offers good orientation and an overview through lines of sight for pupils and teachers. Accessibility, pedagogically desirable visual contact and exits to the garden and playground combine many advantages of learning and playing on one level. The gymnasium with its adjoining rooms is located at the head of the complex on the access side; separate and simultaneous use of the gymnasium and school is a requirement.

The heart of the school is formed by a "marketplace" (open learning zone, break and exercise area), which is located between the group rooms and the sheltered inner courtyard/break area. All educational spaces and teachers' rooms are organized around the marketplace in a cluster concept.

The outside of the sanitary core is magnetized and creates space for decoration with drawings and pinned information. Rooms, surfaces and their variable brightness and transparency control have high priority in customizable usage variants.

The new elementary school as a place of encounter and communication stands for new impulses in community life.

The project was submitted for the Lower Austrian Timber Construction Award 2019. You can vote for the project for the audience award here: http://www.holzbaupreis-noe.at/publikumspreis/detail/detail/volksschule-goetzendorf-leitha/

Text: a-plus architekten

Architecture: a-plus architekten | www.a-plus.at

Photos: Michael Baumgartner | KiTO | www.kito.at