Doren Primary School

The building site for the new primary school with a kindergarten and a gymnasium is located directly in the village centre, next to the church, the churchyard and the municipal office, marked by a steep hillside. The five-storied solid construction concentrates themes of rotation, of overlay of layers in the horizontal and the vertical. Through the change of orientation of single layers on the ground floor and the two upper floors, a spatial game is created. The external walls of the school are load-carrying. Beams of room height each span the whole depth of the building. A large opening in each beam serves the horizontal development from layer to layer. The carrying structure made of concrete is reflected in, and can be experienced through, the facades as well as the interior of the building. For the non-carrying parts, only untreated domestic silver fir has been used. The wooden surfaces are processed differently, the walls are smooth and planed, the floors delicately sawed. Two different kinds of materials have been used for the school, a carrying material and a non-carrying material, concrete and wood. The new village square also serves as a playground for the pupils during breaks and is the social and cultural centre of the village.

Design Team: Andreas Cukrowicz, Anton Nachbaur-Sturm
Project Team: Andreas Cukrowicz, Anton Nachbaur-Sturm, Georg Bechter, Christian Moosbrugger, Markus Cukrowicz.
Client: Gemeinde Doren
Photos: Hanspeter Schiess for cukrowicz nachbaur architekten
Competition 2001 1st Prize, Construction 2001-2003