Georg-Kerschensteiner Vocational School
The extension to the vocational school ties in with the terraced existing building from the early 1980s in terms of urban planning and complements it with a distinctive building front at the southern end. The previous cul-de-sac situation has been converted into a ring road.
Lettering cut from 20 cm thick raw steel plates marks the entrance to the school: Teachers and students are welcomed by a three-story hall, the communicative meeting place at the heart of the school. A seating staircase covered with oak planks creates a pleasant atmosphere; the curved galleries on the upper floors offer attractive views downwards. Daylight from the green inner courtyard falls into the school hall through the floor-to-ceiling glass façade.
In terms of its materials, the new building ties in with the carefully detailed clinker brickwork of the existing building and develops this further. The pentagonal bricks, which were fired especially for the new building, were laid in layers offset against each other, creating a fine facade relief with an almost textile-like appearance.
The sunlight conjures up a delicate play of light and shadow on the relief masonry.
The exposed masonry of the facades is also continued inside. Here, the grazing light from the strip lights accentuates the handcrafted character of the masonry, creating a high-quality and robust atmosphere in the new vocational school.
