Bregenz Studio Bernardo Bader Architekten A cuboidal primary is completed School in rural austria It is designed as a “village within a village”.
Located on a hilltop site in the Au town of Bregenzerwald, the extension expands an existing campus that includes a middle school and kindergarten.
The primary school building is accompanied by a new school courtyard and will later be connected to a gymnasium, designed Bernardo Bader Architekten Will open in 2026.
According to the studio, the yard is intended to serve as a focal point for the complex, which it is aiming to transform into a “village”.
“The basic spatial idea is the creation of a school village, a ‘village within a village’,” studio founder Bernardo Bader told Dezeen.
“The positioning of the buildings creates a rich collection of distinctly different outdoor spaces, which balance themselves with the existing structures to create a uniform composition of body and space,” said Bader.
“The center of the strong cluster is a contained and protected school courtyard, which can be used for play and learning purposes alike, especially in warm weather.”
Occupying the southern part of the school courtyard is the new primary school building, designed as a cubic volume clad in larch planks and raised on a concrete base. Its wooden finish continues in the interiors as well.
The use of wood was chosen by Bernardo Bader Architekten as a tribute to the history of craftsmanship in the area, which was home to the 17th-century Vorarlberg School – a guild of masons, masons and carpenters.
“The prominent use of wood as a construction material and the excellent craftsmanship can be understood as a vote for the continuity of the local building tradition,” Bader told Dezeen.
He said, “This resulted in an atmospherically diverse building of great sensuality, understated formality, dignified and elegant, and, crucially, one that creates a sense of security not distance.”
The slight slope on the site means that the basement cloakroom benefits from level access to the outdoor playing field to the east. In future an underground link will also connect it directly to the gymnasium.
Above, primary school classrooms are located at each corner of the building to provide plenty of natural light and views.
Once completed, the gymnasium will occupy the northeastern edge of the yard, with a set of stairs built between it and the elementary school that lead to an outdoor playing field.
Past school projects of Bernardo Bader Architekten include Detail of a kindergarten in Lustenau, including wooden decorationsAnd A stone-covered ski center with mismatched windows,
photography is by gustav villeit,
