Central Vocational School Vienna Seestadt Aspern
Seven schools under one roof
The new Vienna Central Vocational School in Seestadt Aspern will unite seven vocational schools under one roof. In future, up to 7,500 pupils per year will be taught there in modern learning environments that reflect the current working environment. Due to its size and its function as a central educational institution, the central vocational school has an importance that extends far beyond the city on the lake. At the same time, its integration into the immediate surroundings is essential in order to act as an attractive part of the Urban Lakeside. The school was also awarded the ÖGNB certificate and achieved 891 out of 1,000 points. The school's facilities, health aspects, energy efficiency and technical quality were particularly emphasised - proof of the high standards of sustainable and innovative construction in this project.
Placement
1st prize competition 2021
Certification
ÖGNB certification
Project staff
Tobias Maurer (PL), Bernadett Csenteri (Comp. PL), Philipp Goedhart (PL), Martin Belkovsky, Ayse Dogru, Dina Elsadi, Anika Kristen, Paulina Lakomiec,
Building owner
City of Vienna
Size
48,857 m² GFA
Project staff
Jakub Lech, Radoslaw Matusiak, Andreas Metz, Michael Pantillon, Leander Pattis, Vivien Rideg, Alexandro Rossi, Fatma Wahba, Svenja Wirz
A differentiated building
The architectural design of the building brings the size of the school into a scale that makes sense from an urban planning and educational perspective. A green, two-storey plinth houses the communal functions, the workshops and the classrooms designed as a "mall" for the retail trade and interlocks harmoniously with the generous open space. Above this rises an administrative floor, which is designed as a joint. Three buildings with IT-based classrooms rest on top of this, echoing the scale of Seestadt.
The heart of the school
The centrepiece of the vocational school is the "Mall" - a two-storey communication space that provides access to all areas of the school. This is where people meet to learn, chat and eat. Generous skylights let in daylight and the mall opens up to the open space. The retail classrooms are organised in the form of a shopping mall and enable practical training.
“The new educational landscape in Seestadt Aspern reflects a spatial organisation that enables social interaction and individual development.”
A sustainable building
The external appearance is based on the idea of a green plinth, above which wooden structures appear to float. The two lower storeys form a green plinth that blends sculpturally into the architecture. The theory rooms above have a fixed sunshade made of vertical wooden slats, which reduces overheating in summer. This solar shading also creates a filigree timber structure that gives the buildings a floating, warmly shimmering appearance with a striking characteristic from a distance. The sustainable energy concept includes the use of geothermal energy and photovoltaics, so that a large part of the energy requirement can be covered by renewable sources.
