Volksschule Mariagrün Graz
Located in a park-like area in the Mariatrost district of Graz, this primary school is one of the first cluster solutions in Austria: on each floor, four homerooms share a central hub where the different class years come together.
Hidden behind a restrained, timber-clad box slid into the slope is a small revolution that one could describe as a successful attempt to balance open learning with frontal teaching. On each of the two main floors is a cluster of four classrooms and a large shared learning landscape with two galleries that function like small treehouses for reading and retreat. In order to accommodate these learning landscapes in the spatial program, the classrooms were limited to 48 square meters, an extreme value that is not recommended for imitation. However, the rooms are fitted with floor-to-ceiling sliding walls that, even when closed, retain slender viewing slits for visual connection. Distractions are not a problem, reports the director after more than ten years of experience; the children quickly become accustomed to seeing each other. The large common room is not only an extension of the classrooms, but also the place where cross-grade learning takes place. Each cluster includes a generously sized team room, a storage room for teaching materials, and student restrooms, which are directly accessible from the main space, as well as a deep loggia for working in the fresh air.
Due to the hillside location, the main entrance to the elementary school is on the uppermost story of the three floors. A flexible hall with a skylight welcomes visitors; the administrative offices lie to the left. One floor below is a shared cloakroom with its own exit to the garden. On the lowest level, partially dug into the slope, the sports hall and workshops have covered terrace areas.
The property and its magnificent garden is shared with a heritage-listed nineteenth-century sanatorium (now a kindergarten) and a 2010 daycare building executed as an all-timber structure. In fact, this type of construction was also planned for the primary school, however, given the challenging slope, the final solution was a hybrid timber with reinforced-concrete structural frame.
[ Mariagrün Primary School, Graz ] Architecture: ARGE Kalb Berktold Architekten. Client: GBG – Gebäude und Baumanagement Graz GmbH, on behalf of the City of Graz. Structural engineering: Kratzer & Partner ZT GmbH. Procurement procedure: Open, two-stage design competition with implementation (above EU threshold). Planning and construction period: 2010–2014. Usable floor area: 2 100 m². Address: Schönbrunngasse 30B, 8022 Graz, Styria.