School building and double sports hall
In Biel-Benken, the architects renovated the Kilchbühl school building, which was constructed in 1964, and extended it to include an additional school wing and a double sports hall. A framed, park-like schoolyard spans the angular new building and the existing school building.
The new classrooms are accommodated in a narrow, elongated section of the new building, while the broader, shorter sections house the double sports hall.
Both are clad with vertical lathing made of raw sawn larch wood.
The classroom windows are cut into a “wooden curtain” – while those of the sports hall are not.
The workshops, material rooms and building technology are accommodated on the basement level. The upper level houses the classrooms and group rooms.
A fundamental concept of the design is to show the used materials in their raw state. Thus the walls and ceilings are left as untreated concrete and the woodwool boards in the classrooms remain raw.
Only the white furniture and the white flooring in the classrooms and cloakrooms in front of them provide a contrast with the raw materials through their fine finish.
The reserved interior spaces create a stage for the school pupils. Their colourful clothing and drawings give the school its life and colour.
The double sports hall is made of concrete and white-painted wood. It consists of a spectator stand and a central sports area.
