ABSTRACT
The privately run Waldorf schools are popular throughout Germany. They receive some state subsidy but benefit mainly from parental contributions. In this case the finance for the building was borrowed against personal guarantees by parents. Here the contribution also included an active participation not just in the design process, but also in the construction of elements of the building itself. For example, they undertook the construction of the workshops which were added after the main sports hall was completed. It is the intention to replace the standard doors with hand-made doors produced on the premises by staff and students, to further enhance this process.
The new school comprises two buildings: the main school and the sports hall. They are located in the northern side of the site with a landscaped pathway separating the two. At the centre of each building is the largest communal area, the auditorium and sports hall. The classrooms surround this central core, ranged around the south 232and east sides. The sports hall has a glazed façade which benefits from some winter solar gain. Here the garden facades are intended to be in close proximity to the, as yet, undeveloped garden to fulfil the essential requirements of this very particular curriculum (compare with plate 23). https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9780080499291/f70b01ec-99da-4e86-a882-bbb9f643b2de/content/figcs20_7_C.jpg" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"/> The two-storey colonnade provides classrooms and science rooms linked by the covered route, North Fort Myers High School. The media centre roofs touch the colonnade without disturbing its symmetry. https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9780080499291/f70b01ec-99da-4e86-a882-bbb9f643b2de/content/pla1_19_C.jpg" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"/> (Perkins & Will. Photo: Nick Merrick © Hedrich Blessing.) The entrance foyer is at the end of the new block, Albert Einstein Oberschule, Berlin. Note the structural grid marked by the row of columns delineating the site boundary, and the 1950s buildings behind. https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9780080499291/f70b01ec-99da-4e86-a882-bbb9f643b2de/content/pla1_20_C.jpg" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"/> (Stefan Scholz. Photo:© R.Görner.) The interior atrium, Barnim Gymnasium, Berlin, a circulation and social space sandwiched between the outer wall of classrooms constructed in brick and the inner world of the white-rendered science and art rooms. The heavy exposed concrete ceiling structure is lightened by the introduction roof light, some as circular domes, and some as edge strips articulating the horizontal and vertical planes. https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9780080499291/f70b01ec-99da-4e86-a882-bbb9f643b2de/content/pla1_21_C.jpg" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"/> (Stefan Scholz. Photo: © Ulrich Schwarz.) The architecture is surprisingly domestic in scale considering the size of the building, Waldorf School, Chorweiler, Cologne. https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9780080499291/f70b01ec-99da-4e86-a882-bbb9f643b2de/content/pla1_22_C.jpg" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"/> (Photo:© Peter Hübner.) The image is of a tree house straddling the ground and the branches, an appropriate metaphor for education, Odenwaldschule, Frankfurt. https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9780080499291/f70b01ec-99da-4e86-a882-bbb9f643b2de/content/pla1_23_C.jpg" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"/> (Photo:© Peter Hübner.)
The school building focuses inwards to a spectacular three-storey circulation space. It has a glass roof supported by a tree-like canopy of radiating timber columns. The space serves as a ventilation shaft, sucking air up as the glazing heats, to be dispelled through large rooftop vents. Air is drawn in through external ducts and is distributed through a system of underground pipes. This air can exchange heat with the mass of the earth cooling in summer and warming in winter. Further passive control features add to this sense of purposive ecology.
The only active air-handling element is a rooftop fan which extracts air from the auditorium when in peak use. The ethos is exemplified in this building for the senses. As Peter Blundell Jones states: … the organization of a building reflects and determines social relationships … the qualities of space and light in a classroom affect the learning of the children.’ 2 This is clearly understood, and enhanced by the parents’ enthusiasm and personal investment showing the extent of their concern for the education of their children. The interior atrium illustrates how large the building really is. The opening ceremony accommodated more than 1000 people with ease. https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9780080499291/f70b01ec-99da-4e86-a882-bbb9f643b2de/content/figcs20_8a_C.jpg" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"/> The architect ponders on his structure with internal planting beginning to relate to the rooftop structure. https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9780080499291/f70b01ec-99da-4e86-a882-bbb9f643b2de/content/figcs20_8b_C.jpg" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"/>
