„The bishop's miter“ was carved from RAKO tiles by a water jet

“The basic concept is the structure of a village, where several classrooms are organized around a common square,” says Georg Poduschka from the architectural studio PPAG in Vienna, one of the project authors. The kindergarten, primary school, and new secondary school are each located in two-story buildings within the complex. In each of these educational institutions, there are always four classes organized into so-called Clusters (groupings) with a common space for projects and a space for the teaching team. Each educational institution has four Clusters.

One of the many unconventional details of the building is the laying of approximately 3,000 square meters of RAKO tiles: From the Taurus Color series tiles in the format of 60 x 60 cm, so-called “bishop's mitres,” a rarely used ceramic shape, were cut using water jets and laid in a combination of three colors - cream white, medium gray, and anthracite - into two different patterns. The commonly used interior spaces of the educational facility acquired a unique appearance from the cutting of the Taurus tiles, differing from any standard. The design and technically perfect object series Taurus from the traditional Czech brand immediately catches the eye and is excellently suited for the lively school environment.

The shape of the tiles also reflects another peculiarity of the educational facility: “It copies the shape of school desks,” says Georg Poduschka: “Because project work is of increasing importance in modern pedagogy, we designed special triple desks with a standard height specifically for this educational center.” The chairs with footrests will ensure that smaller students can sit ergonomically correctly, and additionally, children of different sizes can collaborate in larger groups at the same height. Furthermore, educators will not have to kneel to attend to one student.

Connection to open space
Through imaginative synergistic effects, the educational complex “Sonnwendviertel” offers a multitude of opportunities for various groups and classes to meet, such as a “square” for shared use, leisure spaces, project and team work areas, a private garden for each class, and generous outdoor areas. Smartboards instead of traditional chalkboards, “nests” for relaxation, “outdoor classrooms” with sun protection for nature teaching – all of this has been part of the daily school routine since its opening in September 2014. “It is important for the school to be closely connected to the open space,” says Georg Poduschka.

Elevating the educational facility to the level of modern pedagogy is one of the declared goals of the city of Vienna, and the new complex “Sonnwendviertel” presenting an individually oriented teaching concept is one of the significant steps in this direction. “The Sonnwendviertel educational complex represents exactly what the school of the future should look like, in our opinion. It offers perfect conditions for modern pedagogy in terms of space, consciously opening the tight corset of the traditional classroom,” says the president of the Vienna school council, Ms. Susanne Brandsteidl.

Project data: Educational complex Bildungscampus Sonnwendviertel, Gudrunstraße, 1100 Vienna Educational institution with kindergarten (eleven groups), primary school (17 classes), and new secondary school (16 classes) for approximately 1,100 children and 200 educators Description of buildings: three two-story building sections for kindergarten, primary, and new secondary school, and a common space with a multipurpose hall, triple sports hall, exercise/gym hall, and library Land area: approx. 20,000 m2 Built-up area: 10,200 m2 Main usable area: 13,065 m2 Construction duration: approx. two years. Completion in September 2014. Costs: approx. 65 million EUR – 14 million less than the budget Project and implementation: PPAG architects ztgmbH, Vienna Flooring in commonly used indoor spaces: cut from the Taurus Color series, 60 x 60 cm, from RAKO, Plzeň, Czech Republic

The PPAG architects ztgmbh studio from Vienna won the architectural competition for the design of the “Sonnwendviertel” educational complex announced across the European Union, to which 102 projects were submitted. The project was developed by four designers: Georg Poduschka, Anna Popelka, Ali Seghatoleslami, and Lilli Pschill. Here are quotes from some of the designers regarding the concept:

“The shape of the desks, created with respect to standards (Standard notebook, Standard pencil case, Standard…) and simple combinatorics, is applied in the pattern of the flooring in the common areas (non-porous tiles).”

“Morphologically, the result reminds not only of approximately models from the second half of the 20th century, which were already then inspired by free pedagogy, considering the individuality of each person. Today, this pedagogy is state of the art, but it often has to be confined within unsuitable spaces.”

“Those who take the insights of new methods of education and teaching seriously must also change the space. In other words: if the current model of ‘one speaks, 20 students listen’ is no longer adequate, the spaces must respond as well.” (Lilli Pschill)

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About the company
The company LASSELSBERGER is the largest manufacturer of ceramic tiles and flooring in the Czech Republic and is also one of the largest European manufacturers of cladding materials. The company preserves and develops the tradition of the Czech brand RAKO with more than 130 years of tradition. Through the segmentation of brands RAKO HOME, RAKO OBJECT, RAKO SYSTEM, the company covers almost all customer needs in the field of ceramic tiles and their subsequent applications.