Friedrich-Engels-Gymnasium, Berlin-Reinickendorf Extension and schoolyard design

The open spaces of the Friedrich-Engels-Gymnasium were re-arranged on the occasion of the construction of an extension: The construction of the school canteen and additional classrooms and subject rooms made it necessary to integrate them into the school campus consisting of a Wilhelminian-style old building and an extension from the 1970s. By unsealing the schoolyard and creating generous planting areas, the outdoor facilities were modernized and the "school address" of the property was elaborated. Bicycle stands for the more than 1,300 pupils as well as numerous recreation and play areas were created. For the infiltration of the extension building as well as the fastened surfaces seepage surfaces were provided, a central garbage place were prepared, as well as old and extension building handicapped-fairly connected.

The Friedrich Engels High School in Berlin Reinickendorf is a five-stream bound all-day high school with approximately 1,300 pupils and German-Spanish bilingual course. It is located between Emmentaler Straße in the south, Genfer Straße in the west and Thurgauer Straße in the east. To the north is an extensive sports complex. Opposite Genfer Strasse is the "White City", a 1920s housing estate which, along with other Berlin modernist housing estates, is recognised as a World Heritage Site.

On the site there is a school building from the Wilhelminian period with an entrance building on Thurgauer Strasse from the 1970s, which was extended as part of the Economic Stimulus Package II by an extension by the architects huber und staudt, Berlin. Due to the extension building, which accommodated the school canteen as well as additional classrooms and subject rooms, adaptation measures in the area of the schoolyard became necessary, such as the demolition and relocation of a football field as well as the design of the direct surroundings of the extension building.

Parallel to the measures of the KP II project, a target concept for the entire schoolyard of the Friedrich-Engels-Gymnasium was created. The content of this concept was the presentation of the space requirements for the schoolyard due to increasing student numbers, the rounding off of the stationary traffic, in particular by rearranging the bicycle parking facilities on a parking lot that was no longer needed, as well as the creation of play and recreation areas. In addition, infiltration areas, a concentrated garbage area for the previously free-standing garbage containers, and the unsealing of the almost completely asphalted schoolyard were planned. The "finding" of the extension building from the Thurgauer Straße, which was hardly recognizable due to tree growth and disorderly planting areas, was to be improved and thus the "school address" on the Thurgauer Straße was to be strengthened.

In the course of two further construction phases, a larger, but also greener, courtyard with diverse recreational possibilities was created. Differentiated seating areas, such as a specially designed wooden furniture, were created. The transition to the 70's building was made handicapped accessible and the existing planting steps of the extension were redesigned into an "amphitheatre" with seating steps for outdoor lessons. Generous plant islands, under integration of the valuable tree existence, structure now the formerly sealed yard, and created seasonal bloom aspects.

The structural development of the school location begun by the extension building was brought to a provisional conclusion!