Kindergarten St. Gebhard Bregenz
The two-story kindergarten places great trust in its young users. With its purist materiality, generous spatial heights, connecting bridges, and cascading staircase, it encourages children to explore and to overcome obstacles.
St. Gebhard Kindergarten is the final component of the growing ensemble surrounding the parish of the same name. The buildings are arranged around a sunny meadow with mature trees and a sledding hill—a true children’s paradise and a unifying green center. To the south is the church nave, while to the east a single-story kindergarten and a parish hall with an exposed concrete butterfly roof, both built in 1968 to designs by Guntram Metzler, define the edge.
This materiality is adopted by the new kindergarten, which now forms the northern boundary at a right angle to the existing buildings. This means that all group rooms open to the south, where the church tower provides a visual landmark. At the northeast corner, the movement room marks the interface with the public and is recessed to create a sheltered entrance area. The entrance door features peepholes at various heights for children of all ages, offering a playful preview of the 8‑meter-high foyer that stretches 50 meters through the entire building—a vast play zone with underfloor heating. On the right is a single-flight exposed-concrete staircase; behind it lie the cloakrooms and staff areas for the kindergarten teachers. To the left are two integration groups with additional rooms and loggias opening onto the garden.
Exposed concrete defines the circulation areas, while the group rooms are lined with wood. Their large-format glazing makes them appear both urban and minimalist, yet still warmly inviting. North-facing sawtooth roofs bring daylight deep into the foyer, referencing the butterfly roof of the adjacent parish hall and lending the space a distinctive atmosphere. On the upper floor, walkways connect the cloakrooms and group rooms across the atrium. The ancillary rooms assigned to each group are used as workshops for play and learning, allowing children to choose what, where, and with whom they wish to engage. Security and a sense of belonging are provided within the home groups. Taking new risks on a solid foundation—that’s how growth works.
[ St. Gebhard Kindergarten, Bregenz ] Architecture: Dorner\Matt\Architekten. Client: Landeshauptstadt Bregenz. Structural engineering: Hämmerle-Huster ZT‑GmbH. Procurement procedure: Invited architecture competition. Planning and construction period: 2018–2020. Usable floor area: 1 386 m². Address: Holzackergasse 2, 6900 Bregenz, Vorarlberg.