In recent years, the requirements made of schools have changed considerably. New teaching methods, the emergence of digital media, concepts of "inclusion" and full-time care are but a few examples of this. To take account of these developments, the city of Munich, in collaboration with the Institute for School Development in Überlingen, has drawn up a spatial concept that is oriented to Swedish standards and the Herford model project: "the house of learning".
How is a house of learning organized?
Some 90 -100 pupils plus their 12 teachers/advisors from four classes can "live" in a house of learning. Also conceivable would be a layout with horizontal divisions and four parallel classes of the same year next to each other. This helps to create stable relationships between the children as well as between the teachers.
A decisive factor in this was the establishment of teams that were responsible for the concept and that were able to make decisions in everyday matters; e.g. timetables and stand-in plans, the allocation of responsibility and organization during the year. Another aspect is the administration of an individual budget. Team managers coordinate these processes as well as the activities of the individual houses with each other.
What form does a house of learning have?
A house of learning is an individual unit within the school. Its spatial programme includes everything a small school needs: classrooms and group rooms, spaces for full-time care and individual learning, inclusion rooms, a team space, WCs and a store. The spaces should allow a flexible use and serve many purposes. They are grouped about a common forum that provides additional space for various activities.
The house of learning is conceived for full-time use and is based on integrated spatial solutions that facilitate a rhythmic daily cycle, thus allowing an alternation of units of instruction and recreational activities. All areas of the house of learning can be used full-time for care or teaching. The places of learning are designed to allow a flexible use as well as methodically variable phases of orientation, structuring and reflection, with periods of leisure and relaxation, too.
A special feature of this spatial concept is that there are no corridors in the traditional sense of the word. Instead, the access zones are designed as spacious common realms where pupils are encouraged to learn as well as relax. The Munich house of learning concept is distinguished above all by a high degree of flexibility that facilitates education, personal development, care and supervision on an equal basis.
The enormous population growth that has taken place in Munich in recent years poses a great challenge. In 2000, roughly 1.38 million people lived there; by 2015, the figure had risen to 1.55 million, and by the year 2030, it is forecast that there will be a further 300,000 inhabitants. The city has met this rapid growth with the construction of new residential districts, which call for an appropriate infrastructure, including schools. In view of the large number of proposed construction measures, the building authority decided to develop a modular system for primary schools and held a competition for this purpose. As a pilot project, four schools were to be erected simultaneously in different locations: one in the north, one in the east and two in Freiham in the west of Munich, which is currently the largest urban development area in the city.
The central aspect of the competition was the so-called Munich "house of learning" concept, which has formed the basis for all new school construction and rehabilitation work since 2014. The essence of this concept is a division into decentralized modular and comprehensible units. Each unit has four classrooms for 24 to 28 pupils, two rooms for full-time care, a working space for teaching staff and supervisors, ancillary spaces and a common recreation area. Supplementary spaces plus flexible and transparent walls allow different forms of teaching and care. A division into individual house-of-learning modules should help pupils identify more closely with their surroundings and allow a better sense of orientation in larger schools.
With their modular building system, Wulf Architects from Stuttgart emerged as clear winners of the 2013 competition. The house-of-learning module is based on a 10.5 × 9 m grid and can be stacked up to three storeys high. It can also be set on top of other functions such as a sports hall or day-care centre, since it is braced as a storey frame. An atrium ensures adequate daylighting of the inner realms. General purpose areas like the main entrance, foyer, staircase, dining hall, administrative and technical spaces are accommodated in a special module that can be adapted to the requirements of the particular school. Different two- or three-storey volumes can thus be created, depending on the urban situation.
Located at the four corners of the modules are classrooms, between each pair of which is a space for full-time care. This can also be used flexibly as an additional working or group room. The partitions enclosing the central realm can be opened up completely to create a large space for various functions. Otherwise it serves as a multifunctional access and recreational zone, which is daylighted via a planted courtyard. The house-of-learning module is complemented by a team room for teachers and care staff, by corners for learning, as well as WCs and a store. The partitions are partly glazed, so that numerous visual links are created between the individual spaces and the teachers/care staff. Pupils who are working in other rooms can also be observed. Wall areas and cloakrooms with colour accents are an aid to orientation within the building and help create a sense of identity.
To lend the house of learning a special character, despite the modular repetition, the architects designed ceilings with a series of prefabricated concrete barrel vaults 3 × 10.5 m in size. These are spanned across the individual spaces and establish an agreeable rhythm. The greater spatial height also helps to improve the air quality. Special soffit sails, developed in collaboration with building physicists, accommodate the lighting and have a sound-absorbing effect, as do the micro-perforations in the surfaces of the partitions. By means of timber ventilating elements that alternate with windows down to floor level, the spaces can be manually ventilated. To meet all fire protection requirements, peripheral escape balconies were drawn round the outside and have a decisive influence on the external appearance.
The four primary schools provided the city of Munich with valuable insights for subsequent school building. According to the municipal building department, the modular form of construction had a number of synergetic effects, resulting in a shorter planning period and below-average construction costs. Based on Wulf Architects' design, further concepts for various types of secondary school are being developed at present. Different locations, materials and forms of construction will ensure that they are individual solutions and do not have an identical appearance.
"As architects, we were initially sceptical about the idea of developing a modular building form that would be suited to many different kinds of school. Didn't we have that type of school 40 years ago - soulless educational establishments that have a poor image today because of what their construction radiates? For us, the challenge in designing the four primary schools lay in avoiding the mistakes made then. We found the solution in the memorable form of the house-of-learning modules. The rows of barrel-vaulted ceiling elements lend the spaces a protective aura and a memorable quality." Tobias Wulf, architect
