Dreilinden School Propsteimatte

The sculptural and ambiguous concrete volume, with breaks in several places, in the middle of the new ter- raced garden, naturally and confidently enhances the multi-layered, coherent ensemble that includes the manor church, the rooms for the Cathedral Dean, the seminary, and the existing vocational school for com- merce. The geometrically aligned terraced garden is perceived as a typical structural element, intended for public use; a continuation of the cemetery park and an urban space that links the compact city centre to the loosely arranged, topographically turbulent suburb, serving as an intermediary between architectural inte- rior and exterior. The new three-dimensionality gen- erated by the topography, with which the level of the differently treated concrete surfaces has been raised, timelessly and congenially supplements the magical lo- cation that is steeped in history.

Mysterious-looking from the outside, the closed shape on the interior houses a rich variety of rooms. By means of a geomet- rically versatile spatial layering, an unhindered view is provided of the centrally organised, stacked, beautiful gymnasiums and of the immediate and more distant surroundings. The same spatial layer gives the spiral downward movement a special quality, differentiating and staging the direction of light. While the lines of sight and light in the school storeys provide a stunning view into the distance, the classrooms also provide a pleasant view of the court church and the existing school building. The Dreilinden school building Propstei- matte Lucerne is a poetic building that creates an inti- mate interior atmosphere while at the same time opening up towards the city. It develops an innovative series of rooms and routes that enable an unusually dense and versatile reading of the location.