The framed and recessed openings in the first floor are balanced by the surrounding fenestration bands on the upper floor. Vertical panels of expanded metal in three different shades of green provide fun and rhythmic elements to the facade.
Description of project by Architects von Gerkan, Marg and Partners (gmp)
The new building for the extension of Gyula-Trebitsch school to the design by architects von Gerkan, Marg and Partners (gmp) has been completed. During a festive ceremony, the building was officially handed over to Hamburg’s school senator, Ties Rabe, on 14 September; this means that, after the architects had won the competition in 2014, they were able to complete the project earlier than originally planned and within budget. The three meandering volumes of the extension building frame a generous outside area and enhance the existing school campus.
The new extension building for Gyula-Trebitsch school at Sonnenweg in the east of the Hanseatic city is the new address of the neighborhood school, which includes a stream with grammar school subjects; this is a significant step towards enhancing the existing education infrastructure.
The new building, most of which has been constructed in conventional skeleton construction, extends the existing school campus by three interlinked building volumes. Configured in a meandering layout, they are located on the western side and oriented toward Sonnenweg, the new address, which is also the new address of the school, while on the other side they frame a generous landscaped recreation area. The two-story complex accommodates 18 classrooms with eleven rooms for differentiated and individually tailored teaching purposes and ten specialist teaching rooms – including workshops, a music room, two rooms that can be extended into an auditorium for music, drama performances, and media – and ancillary rooms. The central school refectory has been placed in the connecting single-story part of the building. In their external appearance, the new building volumes create a clearly identifiable unit designed to the same architectural principles, with the entire facade built in brick. With this detail, the design is reminiscent of the architecture of the previous buildings and, at the same time, forms a visual bridge to the neighboring buildings at Sonnenweg. The recessed and framed room-high openings on the first floor are balanced by the surrounding fenestration bands in the upper floor. Vertical expanded metal panels in three different shades of green create a playful, rhythmic backdrop, with the green color scheme – inspired by the surrounding nature - also continuing on the inside: the door recesses in the corridors on the second floor, with three doors each, replicate the shades of green, the triangular cassettes in the ceiling of the refectory are picked out in color, and in the wooden cassette ceiling in the two-story entrance areas, colorful ceiling elements alternate with rooflights.
The austere geometry of the extension building is in deliberate contrast to the design of the recreation area, for which Bruun & Möllers were responsible. In the inner courtyard of the new building, organically shaped plant islands provide a structure and soften the area. Wooden benches are placed across the area, inviting you to sit. Colored marking on the ground is used as a guide system across the recreation area, thereby linking the space around the new building and the building itself with the existing school buildings.
