Pierre de Coubertin BORG Radstadt
Just as baby boomers are now aging, so too are the schools they once attended. Better to renovate or to rebuild? The BORG school in Radstadt opted for the former, and after renovation, the building is scarcely recognizable—in this case a good thing.
The school administration, the regional education department, and the federal ministry were all in agreement that without a comprehensive renewal of the existing facility, educational objectives could no longer be met. The school, with eight homerooms for around 200 students aged 15 to 19, has two branches—one focusing on music and the other on natural sciences and digital studies. Its school zone covers large parts of the Pongau and Lammertal regions and extends into Upper Styria. Daily commutes of more than an hour are not uncommon, making the school’s proximity to the train station a significant advantage. What the original three-story corridor school from the 1970s lacked, however, were inviting spaces for time spent outside of formal lessons.
Through selective demolition and a timber-structure extension, the project achieved the remarkable feat of completely reprogramming the building. Where narrow corridors once closed things in, there are now bright, open spaces. The clear distinction between the solid existing structure and the new additions—expressed through exposed timber surfaces (a skeletal frame with cross-laminated shear walls)—makes the transformation tangible inside. The old and new building parts are interwoven around the central auditorium. On the ground floor, a kitchen and dining area as well as the library open towards this space with floor-to-ceiling glazing. The path leads verticallyto the first floor via seating stairs and from there along a delicate staircase to the second floor. An atrium connects all levels, maintaining a clear sense of spatial continuity and effortless orientation. In the north, with views of historic Radstadt and its medieval city wall, classrooms with interconnected common rooms were created on the upper floors, which can be linked together to form open learning arrangements by means of large double doors.
The renovation eliminated the original pitched roof, giving the main building a significantly lower profile. The façade was upgraded for thermal performance and clad in pre-weathered larch. Strong projecting cornice bands frame the structure and, together with the deep window reveals, provide effective shading for the south-facing classrooms.
[ Pierre de Coubertin Federal Upper Academic Secondary School, Radstadt ] Architecture: strobl architekten ZT GmbH. Client: BIG Bundesimmobiliengesellschaft m. b. H., on behalf of the Ministry of Education. Structural design: ConLignum ZT GmbH. Procurement procedure: Open, single-stage design competition with implementation (above EU threshold). Planning and construction period: 2021–2024. Usable floor area: 3 301 m². Address: Moosallee 7, 5050 Radstadt, Salzburg.