Leonardo-da-Vinci Gymnasium, Berlin (DE)

The three-story structure of the school comprises three wings, creating references to the surrounding buildings, their edges and volumetric. The result is a superordinate outside space with schoolyards. A characteristic feature of the new building is the clearly detectable basic structure of the clusters in the wings. The clusters consist of four classrooms each with a community-used communicative zone, located as flexible group rooms in front of the green courtyards. Each cluster has an assigned upper secondary school level area at the front end in order to be able to offer an additional inter-year exchange between upper and middle school. The specialist rooms and their collections are located on the corridor side.
A foyer with the main staircase and the lift connects the schoolyard with the double sports hall. The staircase is the heart and central access of the entire school. From here, all students and teachers can enter their classes or the separate (full-day) area with its cafeteria, multipurpose hall and recreation rooms. This area is located in the southern wing and is developed as an open and lively communication zone. The multipurpose hall and the leisure rooms are designed as a “large window” to the entrance area and public urban space and at the same time act as the school’s primary address. The western wing takes over the administration. The northern wing houses the educational area.