Lern(t)räume

The 40.6-million project for the renovation and expansion of the Lerchenfeld elementary school was described by Konrad Hädener, head of the building department, as “probably the largest building construction project ever undertaken by the city of Thun”. A competition decision has now set the course for the expansion of the school’s capacity from 12 to 16 classes, which will provide the neighborhood with flexible and modern school space for long-term needs. The winning team, Blättler Dafflon Architekten, Bischoff Landschaftsarchitektur, Lüchinger+Meyer Bauingenieure and brücker+ernst, is looking forward to making “Learn(t)räume” come true by 2029 as expected. Their design of the same name prevailed among the 10 finalists. “The jury is convinced that with the Lern(t)räume project, the challenging task can be optimally implemented both operationally and architecturally, and that the Lerchenfeld Primary School will be further developed into a future-oriented learning landscape.”
The existing buildings will be completely preserved structurally and only earthquake-proofed if necessary. In the future, the day school, the school administration and special rooms will be housed here. The current gymnasium will be converted into an auditorium.  The new building for the basic school is a two-story pavilion in wood construction on a basement in concrete for the provision of the shelters. Its ceilings with efficient spans are designed as open beam layers that comprehensibly showcase the building’s statics and express the simplicity of the structure.

For the upper grades, the designers create a new building in the form of a “flying classroom”. The structure of the new school building is built up from the layering of three elements: the gymnasium as a basement box made of on-site concrete, the first floor, which is free-play except for the circumferential column ring, and the upper floor floating above it in composite construction. The latter consists of storey-high trusses as a hybrid construction in steel and wood, which span the entire first floor. The girders are integrated into the walls of the classrooms so that the diagonals do not appear in the space. In the middle, the diagonal is removed so that the spatial longitudinal connection can be used without restriction. The beam acts as a Vierendeel frame in this area. “The developed room-height structure in the school wing, which also serves to span the gymnasium, is interesting and consistent.” the jury praised the constructive approach.

The winning project and the other nine submitted projects will be on display from May 31 to June 10 in the gymnasium, Lerchenfeld Schoolhouse, Langestrasse 47 (details).

Visualizations: Filippo Bolognese Images