In 20 years of professional practice, we have explored many different areas of architecture. For us, planning involves a sensitive study of the location. Our projects should always be seen in the context of the surrounding urban fabric and landscape. Our approach to architecture is not static; it is generated from the substance of each individual project.
In our early work, which consisted mostly of small housing schemes, we were able to explore free layout ideas and the relationship between different types of space, as well as aspects like light, atmosphere, transparency, the use of materials, etc. Participation in competitions allowed us to work to a larger scale and to tackle urban planning issues.
In our design work, we try to superimpose the various layers of a brief and pursue those concepts that promise a complex yet unified whole. For every project, we seek a solution that is individual, yet also typical. The elaboration of details, to which we attach great importance, always forms an integral part of the overall concept. Construction and materials are subordinated to the specific spatial idea.
Six practices were chosen to participate in the competition for the secondary school in Heu-stadelgasse, Vienna. The jury voted unanimously for our design, which successfully integrated the low-rise complex into the existing fabric and formed a new urban focus. The school is situated on the outskirts of Vienna, surrounded by single-family housing and horticultural areas. The great challenge lay in accommodating the spatial programme in a structure not more than two storeys in height, and incorporating this large volume into the existing environment. Of the many different models we investigated, the atrium type gradually emerged as the most suitable form in this situation. It allowed us to implement our principal aims in respect of urban density, integration, transparency and functional articulation, and still to remain within cost limits.
The courtyard – a central forum with urban and communicational qualities – was not conceived as an enclosed space. At one end, it opens on to the road, and at the other end, it is united with the assembly hall through a transparent glass wall. The design proved sufficiently robust to accommodate all the functional requirements of the school authorities without sacrificing the spatial idea.
Thanks to the support of the BIG (see p. 196 f.), which acted as client, the finished building is not significantly different from the competition design. In certain respects, however, the school authorities impose conditions that are out of step with reality, and it is virtually impossible for the architect to escape from standard educational concepts. Nevertheless, the courtyard and terrace areas, which allow outdoor teaching in fine weather, and the glazing drawn round the corners of the classrooms create a spatial potential that goes beyond the requirements of the brief.
Public buildings developed by the Federal Property Corporation of Austria (BIG) differ from those erected by the Republic of Austria itself in that they are leased to public organizations under normal market conditions. We are not only responsible for maintaining the value of these structures and ensuring their proper use; we also have a cultural obligation. As many of our projects demonstrate, economic viability does not necessarily conflict with qualitative architecture.
Modern schools are not only functional places of learning. They are living environments that afford young people space for movement and diversion. For the architect, this has important implications in terms of lighting and the de-sign of recreational, sports and other facilities.
The school project in Heustadelgasse and its management are based on the brief and spatial programme drawn up by the Federal Ministry of Education. The architects have created a complex that matches the scale of its surroundings and that is distinguished by a clear concept and a restrained use of materials. The BIG invited applications to participate in this scheme, which was finally awarded to Henke and Schreieck. Responsibility for the post-design phase was entrusted to a development company, the Corporation for Urban and Village Renewal (GSD), headed by Michael Wachberger. The GSD coordinated the planning, tendering process and implementation of the scheme with great technical and personal commitment. The cost targets and time schedules were precisely met, and the project was awarded a “clients’ prize”.
Differences of opinion that arose in the course of the project were regarded as a challenge. We wished to provide scope for creative ideas, and we supported various proposals by the architects to improve the design. We see this school building as a model for the future, and it has been warmly welcomed by the teachers and pupils. As far as the building physics are concerned, the test is yet to come – when the summer sun shines through the large areas of glazing, which pose a great challenge in terms of thermal insulation.
The school building is situated in suburban surroundings on the outskirts of Vienna and introduces a new urban dimension to the small-scale structure of the area. The complex comprises a series of single- and two-storey tracts laid out around a large courtyard. Here, the atrium type assumes a special form. Large areas of glazing lend the building a quality of transparency on all sides. Approaching the school from the road to the north, one is confronted initially by a single-storey structure raised on slender steel columns. Access to the slightly elevated courtyard is via a gently rising flight of steps flanked by a low concrete wall and a ramp that divide off the teachers’ entrance. Within the courtyard, the various tracts have different facades. On the two long faces, there are wood-strip canopies cantilevered out at different heights. The southern end of the atrium is marked by a thin, dematerialized glass skin, behind which is the assembly hall. The view extends through this entire space to the sunken sports hall beyond.
One scarcely notices that the western tract of the building contains three storeys. Here, the ground level has been lowered externally to allow the special classrooms below the ground floor to receive natural lighting. The various groups of rooms are clearly articulated in the layout, with classrooms set out on the north, east and west faces. The wide corridors, which afford views to the courtyard, can also be used as recreational spaces. The only central corridor in the raised tract receives daylight from above. At the southern end, there is a glazed library with access to a roof terrace over the sports hall. The many staircases linking the different levels of the school provide alternative routes through the building. The lightweight partitions along the corridors are separated from the soffits by clerestory strips. In the well-lighted rooms, the various materials enter into an engaging dialogue. For the most part, they are used in a carefully worked natural form. Over the main staircase in the assembly hall is a large roof light with sunshading fins, the form of which is continued by the wood strips of the canopy roof.
Drawing by hand still plays a central role in the work of Henke and Schreieck. Without computers, the office would not be at a loss for a means of expression. As part of the construction planning for the secondary school in Heustadelgasse, Vienna, drawings were prepared to a scale of 1:100, using CAD, but the details – to scales of 1:20, 1:10 and 1:5 – were drawn by hand in pencil.
At the beginning of the construction planning stage, the main points to be detailed were precisely drawn in pencil and submitted for approval to the planning team, which con-sisted of architects, structural engineers and specialists for mechanical services and building physics. By the time the planning had been completed, the detail drawings filled several A3 files. Isometric pencil drawings were made to clarify abutments and junctions; and spatial situations were investigated in part by means of hand-drawn studies, including perspectives.
Important points were investigated by developing alternatives. For example, in determining the sunshading system for the facade, the architects explored solutions using external blinds, as well as printed panes of glass that could be raised and lowered by means of chains within the frame sections. A mock-up facade was built (ill. 4), and the client expressed approval of the proposed solution. Unfortunately, although the specified thickness of the glass was adequate technically, the bending deflection exceeded the limits allowed by building regulations. Since thicker glass would have been considerably heavier and more expensive, the architects finally opted for a design solution with external blinds. Office supervision of the school building was the responsibility of a project architect and an assistant architect. Henke and Schreieck themselves, however, continued to develop and articulate the project with their own drawings, and the two partners were involved in the scheme at all times. Certain architectural services, such as the preparation of bills of quantities and other tender documents, are farmed out, so that the office is not encumbered with extraneous work and can concentrate on the details of the design.
