On this Berlin site of almost 38,000 m2, an integrated secondary school and a grammar school have been built under one roof – they jointly share the entrance, the multi-purpose area and library, the double sports hall and other open spaces.
For this school building, the Compartment Model was applied as part of the Berlin School Construction Offensive, which has long been an integral part of PPAG’s work. In contrast to the previously common room structure, in which all classrooms lead off from a corridor, rooms are combined into functional units, the compartments. They offer space for differentiation and provide opportunities for individual or group work. The result is a sustainable school building that is not only a place for learning, but also a place for the entire school community to meet and exchange ideas.
Around 1,600 students are learning together here since fall 2024.
Allee der Kosmonauten
Allee der Kosmonauten
Allee der Kosmonauten
Allee der Kosmonauten
| Year | 2024 | |
| Project Type | Non-open realization competition, 1. Prize | |
| CLient | Howoge | |
| Size | 31.783 m² | |
| Place | Berlin, Germany | |
| Project Team | Anna Popelka, Georg Poduschka, Petra De Colle, Christian Wegerer, Paul Konrad, Jakub Dvorak, Felix Zankel, Billie Murphy, Olga Muskala, Alexander v. Lenthe, Henri Cullufe, Kerstin Enn, Lukas Felder, Maximilian Keil, Alexander Nanu | |
| Excerpt | Two schools in one complex, an innovative spatial and pedagogical concept, space for around 1,600 pupils: a pioneering new school building based on the model of the Berlin Compartment School has been built in the Allee der Kosmonauten. |
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Five identical, five-storey compartment arms are arranged in a star shape around the large, double-height sports halls. These also take on extended functions during the school day, i.e. throughout the whole day. The entire ground floor is also open to non-school uses: the piazza under the sports halls, the schools’ multi-purpose rooms, music rooms, canteens and workshops.
The large scale of the campus and the small scale of the individual compartments, which are laid out as manageable “villages”, form a functional unit. Everything is pedagogical space – including the façade, whose individual façade modules, in combination with shelving and furniture elements inside, are an integral part of the equipment meant to be open to appropriation.
Conceived as a timber construction, the project mutated into a conventional concrete building during the planning development phase.
The central “forum” requires the best working conditions. It is neither a break area nor a corridor. It is the central working area for around 110 pupils and their teachers. And it is surrounded by four core group and partition rooms, all of which have an effective, direct connection to the forum. (1)
The library has a two-storey book storage area. A connecting door makes it possible to create a large shared library for both schools. This supports the mixing of all pupils. (2)
In the vestibule (= aula) with plenum stairs: The multifunctional staircase is located in an atrium and in the center of the staircase. (3)
The central sports halls can be used directly from the compartments during the school day and opened (not only) for sports. Extracurricular sports use is possible independently. By blocking four doors, no external athletes can enter the school area. (4)
Floor plan of the 1st floor
Section
Wettbewerb: February 2019, 1st prize
Start of planning: May 2019
Start of construction: December 2021
Completion: April 2024
Client: HOWOGE Wohnbaugesellschaft mbH
Architecture: PPAG architects
General planner: ARGE FC|P|PAG
General planner coordination, structural design, building physics, and budget: : FCP Ingenieure
Landscape architecture: EGKK Landschaftsarchitektur
Technical building equipment & acoustics: : Bauklimatik
Electrical planning: Kubik Project
Fire protection planning: Brandschutz Plus
Consultation on accessibility: Stefanie Bode
Graphic design: Bleed
Planning of sports facilities: Raumkunst
Façade & light planning: Dr. Pfeiler
Kitchen planning: Ingenieurbüro Schaller
Construction / General transferee (GÜ): ARGE Ed. Züblin / Otto Wulff
Planning services for the general transferee: ZOOMARCHITEKTEN
Plot area: 37.819 m²
Built area: 7.531 m²
Total gross floor area: 31.783 m²
GFA above ground: 30.318 m²
Usable area: 20.680 m²
Pupils: 1.564
Teaching saff: 154
Core group rooms: 60 (ISS: 36, GYM: 24)
Triple sports halls: 2
Open space: 32.423 m²
Soccer and volleyball pitch
Running track with jumping pit
Gymnastics field
Bouldering, table tennis and skate areas
Car parking spaces: 9
Bicycle parking spaces: 522
Sustainability standards:
BNB Silver
District heating and heat pumps
Roof greening
Rainwater retention
Core/shell principle
Photographs: © Jan Bitter
Collages by © PPAG with photos by © Jan Bitter (1-3) and © Adrian Schulz (4)