AHS Steinbruchgasse, Vienna (AT)

The new school building on the former barracks site is simple and coherently organized. The assembly hall with associated rooms as well as the homebases with a covered open space for older pupils and teachers are situated around three lowered standard sports halls. These halls are flooded with light and visually group the adjacent areas together while at the same time supplying them with daylight. The former riding arena is not used for the sports halls, but for the outdoor sports grounds. This eliminates the need for costly structural improvements. Rather, this wonderful space is simply returned to its original purpose. The duration of use is considerably extended due to the roof and the possibility of closing the folding doors, as well as large school and extracurricular events.
The clusters for the younger pupils are located on the second floor. The trilaterally oriented groups of rooms in the area of the central market place are illuminated by striking skylight domes and enable a versatile and easily changeable learning landscape. The administration and service areas are located in the converted team building with a possible side entrance. The school structures are built in reinforced concrete skeleton construction. The supporting structures of the sports halls are made of simple laminated timber beams with offset skylight domes. The exterior walls are made of prefabricated wooden sandwich panels with integrated glazing and a curtain-type metal cladding of opaque and perforated elements.