SCHOOL AREA BERNHAUSEN
FILDERSTADT, GERMANY, 2016-2019
Filderstadt, a municipality situated in the south of
Stuttgart has set itself the task of upgrading the
architecture of the school premises comprising
the existing Gotthard-Müller School and the
Fleinsbach School in its Bernhausen district.
The schools will also be developed with a new
educational concept to prepare them for the
requirements of the future. The Gotthard-Müller
School will be replaced by a new building for a
primary and a public high school, each of which
will have two streams. In addition there are plans
to provide expansion areas to enable full-day
operation of the Fleinsbach School as well as for
rooms to be used by both schools jointly.
The leitmotif of the architectural design is that of a
lively school campus which provides a congenial
setting within which the staff and students an
work together individually. Educational ideas
of bringing together cooperative and social
learning styles are supported by a diverse range
of learning environments which are set into a
built context characterized by openly designed
communicative spaces and differently configured
classrooms and group rooms.
Carefully interweaving with the exterior space, the
building fits in very naturally with its hetero-
geneous surroundings while at the same time
developing its own distinctive new individuality.
The free flowing interconnected open spaces of
the agora and the schoolyards, planted areas
and an open-air theatre serve as elements of a
landscape which provides a sense of community
and bind the schools together.
A shared lobby provides access to facilities
used by both schools, such as the students’
library and the dining room; the latter serves a
particularly important function as it is the place
where students can get together, communicate
and learn. The design of the ground floor is based
on the model of an open house and is understood
as an extension of open space. Together with the
agora outside it will work like a vibrant market
place which offers plenty of special places for
people to meet, it will help the schools to grow
together and exert a lasting positive influence on
the staff/student relationship.
Vertically the atrium branches out and leads to
the functionally separate schools on the higher
floors, each of which is going to feature its own,
individually nuanced design. The primary school
which comprises different “learning houses” is
arranged on two levels. The public high school
spans three levels, each of which accommodates
a learning studio, a classroom and has an
expansive outside terrace for art lessons. In
analogy with the primary school here, too, the
design pursues the idea of learning houses.
Smoothly designed transitions between the
rooms and corridor areas are exciting in-between
spaces, which, just like the open areas on the
ground floor, have been articulated as extended
classrooms and provide scope for new teaching
formats.
The proposed choice of materials reflects a
theme of authenticity. A timber-aluminum façade
designed as a unitized façade with opaque
wood elements drives home the idea of an
open learning environment. The basis for the
energetically sustainable operation of the building
is the comfort concept which is geared towards
maximum exploitation of the building’s intrinsic
thermal properties. It also entails passive energy
measures which help minimize the need for
technical building services.
Client
Stadt Filderstadt, Hochbauamt
Architect
Behnisch Architekten, Stuttgart
Competition
2016, 1st prize
Planning and Construction
2016-2019
Gross
9.498 m2 / 102,237 sq.ft.
Volume
33.733 m³ / 1,191,281 cu.ft.
Address
La Souterrainer Straße 9
70794 Filderstadt
Germany
 SCHOOL AREA BERNHAUSEN
FILDERSTADT, GERMANY, 2016-2019
 SCHOOL AREA BERNHAUSEN
FILDERSTADT, GERMANY, 2016-2019

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