Education Centre Kössen
The Kössen Education Center brings together primary school, kindergarten, nursery, after-school care, and sports facilities under one roof, forming a vibrant, intergenerational learning environment. Positioned at the village edge, it connects the town center with surrounding neighborhoods. The design draws on local architectural traditions, combining a robust exterior with a warm, sensory interior. Separate entrances converge at a shared forecourt, while indoor and outdoor spaces merge into an open educational landscape. More than infrastructure, the building serves as an emotional and social hub, supporting children and families for generations.
On the northern edge of the settlement center of Kössen, between the town hall, the church, and the local theater, the Kössen Education Center is being developed. Here, the primary school, kindergarten, nursery, after-school care, and sports hall are brought together under one roof. What may appear at first glance as a functional consolidation is, in reality, a strong commitment to an educational landscape that connects generations—where learning, playing, working, arriving, and staying naturally intertwine. The Education Center sees itself as a new focal point at the edge of the village, acting as a link between the public life in the center and the adjacent residential neighborhoods.
The creation of this building is not a linear process behind closed doors, but rather a continuous dialogue between the place, its users, and the people constructing it. The project development is deliberately structured as a sequence of phases, from user consultations to design and approval planning, all the way to execution. Behind each milestone lies a multitude of conversations, decisions, and the awareness that a building is taking shape which will accompany the community for decades. At the beginning stands a careful look at what already exists: the traditional village and farmhouse architecture of Kössen tells a story of robust, calm construction. These references are not simply replicated but translated into a concept for the Education Center: outwardly robust and grounded, inwardly atmospheric and rich in sensory qualities.
Like the large, solid farmhouses, the Education Center is intended to project an unpretentious, natural presence within the townscape. The kindergarten, school, and after-school care facilities each have their own entrances, all oriented toward a shared, covered forecourt. The staggered development of building heights simultaneously structures the outdoor spaces. Interior and exterior are not conceived as separate worlds; instead, the spatial composition becomes an open educational landscape. The building’s color palette is also closely tied to Kössen. The exterior envelope is designed as a durable, low-maintenance construction. Inside, there is a clear palette of natural, regional materials, which are explicitly allowed to age and mature over time.
The Kössen Education Center is far more than a functional infrastructure for teaching and care. It understands itself as an emotional space that accompanies the formative early years of children and their parents alike—a place that not only imparts education, but also strengthens emotions, social competence, and cultural identity, day after day, year after year.
