Secondary School Sandgruben

Basel, Switzerland

Photo © Roman Weyeneth, Basel

Schools

Architects: Stücheli Architekten

Location: Schwarzwaldallee 161, 4058 Basel, 4058 Basel, Switzerland
Year: 2016

The new Sandgruben secondary school building was built in conjunction with the classroom renewal project launched in connection with the implementation of the ‘Intercantonal Agreement on the Harmonization of Compulsory Schooling’ (HarmoS-Konkordat). It is the largest school building to be built in the canton for over 40 years. As part of an educational restructuring process, a main aim was to regard the entire school – rather than individual classes – as the reference point for everyday life at the school. As evocative and multifunctional ‘places of possibility’, the school’s transitional and recreational spaces are of fundamental importance. The configuration of the old school building and the new windmill-shaped building creates a large schoolyard. ocated at the interface of the various wings of the building is the main hall. The standard lessons take place in so-called Lernateliers (‘learning studios’): open clusters made up of an input room, group room and atelier with individual workplaces. As later in the professional world, the classes are mixed in terms of age and ability. Since the school year 2016/17, around 570 students attend classes at Sandgruben secondary school, around one-fifth of whom visit special needs classes. The building provides them with a framework that is stable yet flexible enough to develop further with the community and meet new challenges as they arise.