German-Speaking Primary School “Dr. Josef Rampold”

The school is located in the immediate vicinity of the parish church and the Deutschordenshaus (House of the Teutonic Order), which were built outside of the old part of town in what used to be marshland. The groundwater table lies a mere 1 meter underneath the site’s surface. In order to prevent a dangerous rise in groundwater levels that could compromise the historic buildings while the school was being built, the new structure was constructed on top of a “raft” positioned 80 centimeters above the terrain. In due consideration of the historic neighboring buildings, the school was designed as an elongated, single-story structure that – while it is not meant to compete with its surroundings – has its own special character. In front of the façades, between the large cantilevered roof and the floor slabs encircling the building, the architects incorporated a “forest” of tree trunks that lets in enough natural light, but becomes more dense when viewed from an angle. As a result, the building can appear either more or less conspicuous, depending on the observer’s point of view and the amount of daylight available.