NEW BUILDING Primary school Schulstraße and Katharina-Henoth comprehensive school

Neighborhood shapes school

In Cologne-Höhenberg, a new educational location is being created that is more than the sum of its parts. With the new primary school building including a sports hall, a janitor's house and the extension of the comprehensive school, a campus is being created that is closely interlinked in terms of space and function and at the same time offers two independent addresses with recognition value. A piece of the neighborhood is being shaped: a learning and living space that connects, structures and grows.

Project

New building of the Schulstraße primary school with sports hall, janitor's house and extension of the Katharina-Henoth comprehensive school

Client

Gebäudewirtschaft der Stadt Köln

PPP-Partner

Depenbrock

Service

1-5 HOAI

Area

8.905 m² GFA

Location

Nürnberger Straße | Schulstraße in Cologne-Höhenberg

Open space planner

Kuttner und Kahl Landschaftsarchitekten

Visualization

dreidesign GmbH

Specifics

1st place PPP-Procedure

Rethinking the familiar

In the densely built-up Höhenberg district, school, daycare, housing and leisure meet in a confined space. The new building project picks up on this urban density and transforms it into a well thought-out zoning: Two independent school buildings, a sports hall and a janitor's house blend harmoniously into the existing neighborhood along Augsburger Strasse and Schulstrasse. Striking welcome areas and differentiated pathways create places of arrival with orientation and open up the space to the neighborhood.

Thanks to colorful accents and reused existing features, the new buildings not only blend harmoniously into their surroundings, but also develop their own contemporary identity. White-beige tones for the primary school, warm red for the comprehensive school, plus robust materials such as facing brickwork, wood and metal. The façades quote the language of the location with fish scale patterns, large windows and lettering - interpreted in a modern way and visibly creating an identity.

Centerpiece for little explorers

The new primary school sees itself as a protected learning and living space for the youngest children. The spacious foyer with atrium and adjoining inner courtyard forms the communicative center of the first floor and connects all important areas. The administration, assembly hall, library and canteen are grouped around this open space. This is where people eat, read and play - not only in everyday school life, but also in the context of neighborly use.

A highlight of the new building is the auditorium, which can be flexibly extended using mobile walls and combined with the adjoining multi-purpose room and library to create a multifunctional event area. The lowered area in the middle of the auditorium opens up a wide range of possibilities for using the space.

Growing together

The actual learning areas of the primary school are located on the upper floors. The clusters are each organized as their own small learning worlds and, in addition to classrooms, also offer differentiated retreat zones, group rooms and open spaces for creative learning formats. Colorful design elements promote orientation and create a child-friendly atmosphere. Generous windows, seating niches and visual connections between the areas make learning transparent and lively. The well thought-out zoning of each cluster ensures that there is space for individual learning needs as well as communal activities.

Playfully connected

The new sports hall is embedded in the campus both functionally and architecturally. With its own entrance on Burgstrasse, it can be used separately and thus strengthens cooperation with clubs and the district. The two-court hall is bright, barrier-free and offers generous views - not least thanks to translucent windows that allow daylight without glare. The adjoining building with the janitor's apartments also plays a connecting role: with an identical façade, it becomes part of the whole and complements the campus as an important functional unit.

Naturally efficient

The campus follows a clear sustainability concept. Compact structures ensure a favorable A/V ratio, extensive green roofs improve the microclimate and rainwater management, and the solid construction of the shell with sophisticated sun protection guarantees pleasant room temperatures. The skeleton construction of the interior also allows a high degree of flexibility for future conversions. A photovoltaic system and air-to-water heat pump ensure an energy-efficient supply. This creates a permanently sustainable building that can be adapted to the needs of the users over time.

Space for knowledge and growth

The new building for the extension of the Katharina-Henoth comprehensive school is designed as an open, urban learning environment. A spacious, light-flooded foyer forms the heart of the building and creates a transparent connection between the interior and exterior spaces with lines of sight into the green schoolyard. The multi-purpose room on the first floor, the inter-year learning rooms and the break-time WCs are accessed from here. The clear floor plan structure enables intuitive orientation in the building and makes the comprehensive school a clear and lively place of learning.

Vertically conceived flexibly used

The learning areas for Year 9 at the comprehensive school are located on the upper floors and are organized as spacious, two-storey year clusters. The vertical interaction of the learning environment creates a special spatial element: the two year clusters are connected to each other via an air space with a gallery, thus promoting active interaction across the floors.

This central cluster forum houses a communal group room on the 1st floor and a team station on the 2nd floor. Adjacent to this are the year clusters, which enable flexible zoning of the space with different seating options. Interior windows and transparent elements create an open learning atmosphere with a high quality of stay. This creates differentiated spaces for individual learning, cooperative work and collaborative exchange - precisely tailored to the needs of the pupils.

One campus many faces

Despite the individual characters of the two school buildings, the new site functions as a joint educational campus. The same façade language with facing brickwork, the reuse of materials and the positioning of the buildings along common axes ensure a harmonious overall appearance. The primary school and the comprehensive school are connected by clear sequences of open spaces - supplemented by the sports hall, which creates space for movement and encounters. The result is an educational location that is used in a variety of ways and enables interaction without compromising the independence of the schools.