Volksschule Haselstauden Dornbirn
A shared living environment that enables a child-friendly rhythm to the school day. Despite being divided into three clusters, everyone here shares a large teamwork space; no one is ever alone.
In Dornbirn’s school building program, which was approved in 2009 with a budget of 100 million euros over the following 20 years, the primary school in the Haselstauden district was initially planned not as a new building, but as a renovation; the existing buildings were considered sufficient for a school with 12 classes. However, expectations grew in the course of implementing the program. Simply providing sufficient floor space in square meters does not mean that the prerequisites for modern teaching practices are met. In the end, it was decided to retain only the gyms of the old corridor-type school from the 1960s and erect a new building for the school itself.
The architecture competition for the new school was held in late 2015. The brief described a school that was no longer just a conglomerate of classrooms, but a living environment—a place where the traditional idea of school is turned on its head—or rather, set back on its feet. The conventional notion of schooling is to keep children as physically still and mentally focused as possible at their desks in the classrooms. While this application does still exist in some modern-day schools, it is no longer the norm. In an active school, children find their own places for learning and form groups that work together on tasks. This school is a space for teams, a large, flexible, open area that can be subdivided as needed, where children and teachers collaborate in diverse learning arrangements and rhythms.
The Haselstauden Primary School provides the ideal setting for this. It consists of three clusters, each with four classes, two on the upper floor and one on the entrance level. In every cluster, the four grade levels each have a learning space and share a common marketplace. The architecture is maximally transparent; areas for retreat are created by the furniture. Light comes from all directions, including from above, through glazing that continues into the floor as circular openings, thus introducing daylight into the floor below. The cloakrooms are located directly next to the clusters; students carry their shoes from the main entrance, only exchanging them for slippers once they reach the cloakroom. The high-quality carpeting used throughout the school has proven durable, even in the most heavily used areas, including the entrance.
Rich in visual and acoustic stimuli, this environment can be challenging for some children. As an acoustic///audio remedy at least, hearing protection headbands provide relief—children who need them while working independently simply take them from their wall hooks as needed.
A particular highlight is the large seating staircase leading from the entrance down to the basement floor, where the cafeteria and specialized classrooms are located. The entire school community of nearly 300 people is able to gather here. The architects lowered the terrain and shaped it so that the basement floor opens directly to the outside, with the indoor seating steps continuing seamlessly out to the exterior. From this side, the house looks like a spaceship that has gently landed and sunk into the landscape. This school, says the principal, “brings great joy.” It is not just a workplace, but also a living space. There is no higher praise that architecture can get from its users.
[ Haselstauden Primary School, Dornbirn ] Architecture: fasch&fuchs.architekten. Client: Stadt Dornbirn. Structural engineering: Werkraum Ingenieure ZT GmbH. Procurement procedure: Restricted, single‑stage design competition with implementation (above EU threshold). Planning and construction period: 2016–2020. Usable floor area: 2 556 m². Address: Haselstauderstraße 20, 6850 Dornbirn, Vorarlberg.