more than a scool
Text: Isabella Marboe
With considerable stamina and a great deal of innovation the architects Franz Sam and Irene Ott-Reinisch have developed and converted the complex existing school in Waidhafen an der Ybbs into a multi-functional school centre. The old building was underpinned, in the rocky ground beside it space was made for a large new gymnasium. The new white reduced building of the polytechnic functions as beam over this gymnasium, without the need for internal columns. The old school was reorganised while still in use. the new glazed foyer is a barrier-free approach, a distributor and a source of light for both. The music students will soon be able to display their talents in a timber-clad sounding body with ideal acoustics, above the glass cafeteria.
Sisyphus work on the occupied building
The start of Waidhofen an der Ybbs is marked by a striking mediaeval town tower, the metre-thick walls of the old houses stand close together to form narrow angled lanes. Space has always been at a premium in this town on a river, the quality of the historically developed streets and squares with the dominant church towers is therefore all the finer, and the awareness of these qualities is highIy developed. Waidhofen has a rich legacy of historic buildings, an ambitious architectural present and a music tradition that has grown up over several generations. Condensed like in a buring glass all these factors met in the tight site of the primary school, which was to be expanded by the construction of a polytechnic and a large, shared gymnasium. In 2000 an invited entry competition was held, which was won by architects Franz Sam and Irene Ott-Reinisch.
Construction started in 2005, by that time the requirements of the users had grown to include seven school types with various ancillary rooms. With a great deal of tact the timber-clad, cleverly shaped music school addition has been placed above the loadbearing structure of the old hall. Its unorthodox projecting and recessed edges are derived from the angle of incidence of light for the buildings opposite; the sounding body sensitively explores the boundaries of the building line. Like an avant-garde instrument box it now projects above the new glazed cafeteria.
Maximum utilisation
The L-shaped existing building that dates from 1965 had been more than just a primary school for a long time: the south-western site boundary runs along the federal highway 312, the entrance to the special teaching centre in the north-western classroom wing was at this point, beside it was an area of meadow. The prominent entrance to the primary school was a level lower, on Plenkerstrasse on the town side. Its dining/dance hall and large recess hall with cloakrooms, kitchen and buffet had been designed for joint use by the nearby town events hall that was added in the 1970s. Gymnastic classes were held on the backstage area, in the aftemoon every free space changed into a resonating music room. "In this town there isn't a periphery that can be built upon, here everything is used and condensed to the absolute maximum" Franz Sam states pragmatically. "The key issue was how to accommodate
the various functions on a tight building site", adds lrene Ott-Reinisch. "We planned every detail with great precision. It was like conducting heart surgery on the school while it was still in operation." They consistently satisfied the requirement for maximum utilisation of all existing spatial resources. The southwest flank of the existing building was carefully underpinned so that beside it, in the only corner that could be built upon, the conglomerate stone could be excavated to build a 5.5-metre-high gymnasium lit by roof lights. This sealed concrete basement forms the foundation for the new polytechnic. The reduced white block with its disciplined bands of windows fits in unpretentiously with the grey rendered existing fabric, whose structure is reflected in the three street-side classrooms per storey in the addition. The uppermost level is used by the special teaching centre, the new school, too,
is more than just a school and follows a special economy. Its four load-bearing wall panels together with the bracing cross-walls form a structure that, like an oversized, three-storey high lintel, spans the 15 x 27-metre gymnasium without the need for internal columns: the ceiling slab of the gymnasium is thus the floor slab of the school.
Learning at the building
Form here becomes content. "This is absolutely sensational: we have erected a building that is itself a structural element", says Franz Sam. "The structural system is most cleverly worked out." As the reinforced concrete walls not only transfer the load of the school at the side down to the foundations, but also must make room for the circulation, large openings - that are different on every level - were cut in the concrete panels. Flights of stairs of different lengths with glass parapets project through rudimentary exposed concrete walls and give the open, poured asphalt staircase its own specific dynamics. As an optimised structural system that can be traversed and experienced it offers the polytechnic students a demonstration lesson in construction on a daily basis. Most lessons, however, are learned in bright c1assrooms fully electronically equipped, with smoked oak parquet floors and suspended acoustic ceilings. Internally exposed concrete is dominant in the corridors, the walls perforared by top lights gleam in a bright yellow colour. "We thought it important to be able to orient oneself in the extensive school cornplex", says Franz Sam.
A glazed foyer clasp as a source of light and central distributor between the different levels forms the new, barrier-free entrance from the federal motorway, on the second floor a bridge provides an easy and airy connection between old and new. Salmon pink and pale blue are the colours (fashionable when the building was erected) of the existing building, whose terrazzo floors were preserved. Glass bands and furniture with cosy seating niches have been cut into the walls, which now introduce light and a note of relaxation into the classrooms. They bulge out cheekily into the corridors where the students can leave their messages on slate panels or pin boards. Perforated plasterboard, wood or herakustik panels are found throughout the entire school, so that the enthusiastic playing of music in the afternoons does not disrupt or interfere with concentrated study. The dance hall required is in the existing wing, between the gymnasium and the bright, large school kitchen that has work surfaces with different heights and pastel coloured units. "We gave all the spaces our utmost", says Franz Sam.
Melodious future
The jewel, the music school hall with seats for 440, sound-absorbent wall surfaces and suspended ceiling panels that conceal the lighting equipment, is being given the final polish. Its acoustics and the flexible, separable stage are designed to deal with various different scenarios covering the entire spectrum of music-theatre, from the traditional proscenium theatre to a space stage. "This is our diva", says Irene Ott-Reiniscb. Along a leaf-green wall, in the eastern corner of the projecting new building slits of glass will offer extensive views across Waidhofen as one glides up to the gallery. The teaching rooms in the wooden clad sounding body project above the glazed cafeteria, which by day is a display window and at night a bar. At tbe very top, under the tall, steep slope of the roof orchestras can rehearse against dynamic perspectives of the sky and the town; a terrace has been laid gently above the existing substance. Franz Sam: "This building is like an instrument that produces different sounds." And when night falls in Waidhofen, the building will gleam and resound and allow the stars of the future to shine in its limelight to a background of thunderous applause.
Technical data:
Gross Floor Area: 7.245 m˛
Net Floor Area: 2.200 m˛
Architectural Volume: 2.275 m˛
Fotos: Hertha Hurnaus