School for Curative Pedagogy HPT Biel / bauzeit architekten

School for Curative Pedagogy HPT Biel / bauzeit architekten - Windows, Door, GlassSchool for Curative Pedagogy HPT Biel / bauzeit architekten - Image 3 of 37School for Curative Pedagogy HPT Biel / bauzeit architekten - Door, Facade, ColumnSchool for Curative Pedagogy HPT Biel / bauzeit architekten - Image 5 of 37School for Curative Pedagogy HPT Biel / bauzeit architekten - More Images+ 32

  • Artistic Design And Signalling: Susanne Dubs, Magglingen
  • Collaboration (Architect Of The Building 1974): Georg Habermann (Andry&Habermann)
  • Building Services/Building Physics: enerconom AG, Solothurn
  • Client: Stiftung Heilpädagogische Tagesschule Biel
  • Construction Volume: 19179 m3
  • Costs: 16.6 million Swiss Francs
  • Artistic Direction And Design: Susanne Dubs, Magglingen
  • Signalling: Susanne Dubs, Magglingen
  • Building Services: enerconom AG, Solothurn
  • Building Physics: enerconom AG, Solothurn
  • City: Biel/Bienne
  • Country: Switzerland
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School for Curative Pedagogy HPT Biel / bauzeit architekten - Facade
© Yves André

School for Curative Pedagogy HPT Biel, extension, and total refurbishment 2015-2017
The school for curative pedagogy HPT Biel is a special school for children aged 4 to 18 years who need a special learning environment due to their mental and/or physical disabilities. With 116 children, it is one of the three largest special schools in the canton’s Bern. The school building from 1974 has been extended on three sides. The extensions are based on the existing basic grid of equilateral triangles.

Floor Plan 1
School for Curative Pedagogy HPT Biel / bauzeit architekten - Facade, Garden
© Yves André

Wooden façade with furnishing system
A special feature of the project is the new glass façade designed with solid oak wood, which can be individually equipped inside with an integrated furniture system. The kit, which is also consistently made of solid oak, consists of benches, work tables, frames, suspension devices and other elements. It’s very easy to handle with a practical hanging system of oak cones, which fit into the holes of the façade posts provided for this purpose and can be hung around at any time without tools. Towards the outside, the façade, used in this way, creates a lively image within the quiet main grid. The design of this façade is, on the one hand, the response to the desire for abundant natural light and a strong relationship between interior and exterior, and on the other hand the wish to be able to use the façade surfaces.

School for Curative Pedagogy HPT Biel / bauzeit architekten - Windows, Door, Glass
© Yves André
Elevation 1
Section 2

Meeting areas, vestibules with cloakroom system
The interior design is based on the philosophy of reduction to a few "perceptible" materials: oak wood in combination with exposed concrete walls and ceilings. Doors, furniture, mobile and fixed partitions are made of oak. For the corridor and cloakroom walls, cement‐bonded wood‐based panels were chosen, which are mechanically very resistant and do not require any additional impact protection or skirting boards and are also suitable for the cloakroom system; this consists of a set of 4 oak cones per pupil, which can be used in the perforated wall grid according to its height. Specially designed felt bags for shoes are also hung on the wall. Mobile, hexagonal stools with compartments for boots complete the personalized access areas in front of classrooms.

School for Curative Pedagogy HPT Biel / bauzeit architekten - Image 13 of 37
© Yves André
School for Curative Pedagogy HPT Biel / bauzeit architekten - Image 5 of 37
© Yves André

Collaboration with artist and students
In order for children to understand the changes and feel at home again in the renovated building, the idea was born to let them participate conceptually in a project week. Together with the teachers, they developed sketches for the subsequent conceptual design. This was reflected in the development of ornamental patchworks and drawings, which were subsequently taken up by the artist Susanne Dubs for her work. This ornamentation was used with a functional purpose, used as visual protection in the glass doors, as collision protection for the big glazing panels in the corridors, as fine patterns on curtains and for the window furniture as an ephemeral play of light and shadow. The skylights are kaleidoscope‐like with interchangeable elements that project wandering plays of shadow and colored light onto walls and floor. 

School for Curative Pedagogy HPT Biel / bauzeit architekten - Table, Windows
© Yves André

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Project location

Address:Biel/Bienne, Switzerland

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Location to be used only as a reference. It could indicate city/country but not exact address.
About this office
Cite: "School for Curative Pedagogy HPT Biel / bauzeit architekten" 23 Jul 2018. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/891830/school-for-curative-pedagogy-hpt-biel-bauzeit-architekten> ISSN 0719-8884

© Yves André

比尔HPT康复学校/ bauzeit architekten

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