Pettenkofer Primary School

Under the motto "discover the world" is the renovation and expansion of the schoolyard of the Pettenkofer Elementary School, a Montessori school in Berlin-Friedrichshain. With elements from the areas of water, sea and beach, the pupils can playfully discover, explore and investigate their world.

The starting point is an urban gap whose social and functional relationship to the school building cannot yet be clearly assigned. There is a lack of clear references between the open space of the city and the building. This necessity can be turned into a virtue or an opportunity for the new schoolyard. Since there will be no public access from Pettenkofer Street in the future, a world of its own will emerge as an excerpt from the larger world in the sense of a protected
special place. Clear boundaries to the street space, a generous transition from the second schoolyard and a new exit from the school building open up this new free space of sensory experiences.
All great explorers of the "New and Old Worlds" started their expeditions from beaches and shores hungry for knowledge. Ships were the means of transport. Questions and mysteries their motives. Now the great explorers of the Pettenkofer School can start the great journey from their own beach.