Primary School No. 30 "Am Hechtpark" in Dresden - experiencing nature in the city

By Barbara Kroll (freelance garden and landscape architect)

© Barbara Kroll

At the end of the 1950s, the construction of the new school building was started to replace the historic building which had been destroyed in the war. In 1965 the school began operating. Since then, almost nothing has happened on the school grounds for over 50 years! 

That means, at the beginning of the planning, the schoolyard consisted mostly of asphalt, which had sunk irregularly because of the rubble (as in many locations in Dresden) beneath the surface of buildings destroyed in 1945. Gully covers protruded; when it rained there were deep puddles, in the summer sun unbearable heat, tripping hazards and many skinned knees, few meaningful activities for breaks and recreation. Only at the edges there were some larger trees and some shrub and lawn areas. The after-school care centre and the support association procured at least some play facilities such as a small climbing frame, a nest swing, a wooden platform, sand play and table tennis tables. However, the space was far from adequate for the large number of children, which resulted in weaker students being pushed into less attractive spaces. Mixed use of areas for quiet play and movement play areas caused further conflicts between students. 

Only playing football was adequately provided for: a 2,000-square-metre clay field as tournament-size football field, but like the schoolyard, without shade, with dust in summer, mud in winter. In addition, there was already a synthetic field that could also be used as a public football pitch. 

As a contrast to this, the school garden had long been a gem with a pond, flower beds, clay oven, fireplace and a fully equipped construction trailer as an additional after-school and nature research room, which was created in joint actions by children, educators, parents and the support association in years of work. Even for me as a planner it is a drop of bitterness that this school garden has to move to a new (now already prepared) place with the construction of the school sports facilities, because the planned 50-meter running track could not be sensibly arranged at any other place in the grounds.

Planning phase and start of construction

The school's active support association, including the school and after-school staff, no longer wanted to put up with the condition of the grounds and sought cooperation with a landscape architect’s office focused on playground design.

The concept for the redesign of the grounds that was initially developed on this basis was revised and adapted to the new structural conditions after a competitive tendering procedure for freelance services in building planning and architecture was carried out by the state capital Dresden for the redevelopment of the school in 2015. 

The planning phase with the relevant awarding procedures, coordination between offices and planners from different disciplines and application for funding always takes a lot of time - long periods of time which are always difficult for the users to understand. However, it is understandable that parents of primary school children want the changes to be implemented during their children's school years.

In 2016, the support association brought about the construction of a climbing and balancing course in the schoolyard as an early measure under our guidance. Teachers, parents and children volunteered thousands of hours to unseal a 500- square-metre asphalt area around the four old existing trees from the surrounding asphalt, to build planted and individually designed gabions as a border and to construct individual wooden and rope play equipment and wooden decks. A great effort, which was definitely worth it! For the ceremonial opening, almost all the students stormed the playground all at once, without anyone coming to harm.

A long breath until completion - the conversion of the site in sections

The rest of the site was redesigned in several construction phases starting in 2017, since the entire four-form school and the after-school care centre were housed in two container buildings on the site due to the parallel refurbishment or demolition and new construction of a part of the building.
 In the first construction phase, a 4.50 m high play mound was built from the excavated soil for the newly constructed part of the building. The surface of the mound was paved with lime gravel and sown with species-rich, native flower meadow mixtures. The initially long bare stone desert led to many doubting enquiries as to whether anything would really ever grow there and whether "proper" soil would not still have to be applied. The doubters were reassured the following year when wild roses, poppies and cornflowers provided the first blossoms and the long-lived perennials now increase year after year. The flower meadows contribute significantly to the natural enhancement of the site and provide food for a variety of insects and the nursery's own bees. At the same time, the hill is used intensively for playing; several challenging climbing possibilities made of robinia wood and sandstone lead to the top and a slope slide leads back down. Sandstone seating steps are also integrated into the slope, which are used as a green classroom and for school parties. 

In the next construction phase, the pathways around the new part of the building and the temporary open spaces for the container buildings were constructed. Large trench systems collect all the rainwater from the buildings and the grounds for infiltration. 

The last construction phase for the time being was realised in 2020 and included the redesign of the schoolyard with raised beds made of gabions filled with recycled material, various play areas, the restoration of all areas after the dismantling of the containers as well as the new construction of the basic framework for the school garden, which is to move to the new location after the replacement construction of the gymnasium with outdoor sports facilities has not yet been implemented. Extensive planting measures with trees and hedges as well as further flower meadow sowings increase the biodiversity and bring shade areas into the grounds.

The new play and exercise activities

In addition to the climbing island in the schoolyard and the playground equipment built into the hill, the water-sand play area has been comprehensively extended and the play opportunities considerably expanded with a swan pump and a water channel that flows into a basin from which water can be pumped with an Archimedean screw. The enclosures made of stones and tree trunks can be used for balancing. Here, one can rest on wooden decks under the trees.

The nest swing was removed from the sand play area to separate the different uses and a double swing was added.   

Apart from a few prefabricated elements such as swings, slides and sand play equipment, all play equipment was planned by our office and manufactured by the parents for the climbing island and all other play equipment was manufactured by wooden play equipment manufacturers from Dresden and individually adapted to the existing terrain situation. The equipment on the climbing island and the ascents on the hill are designed in such a way that there are different levels of difficulty to be mastered for children with weaker motor skills as well as for children who are already very skilled, so that the children can gradually gain more confidence. 

In place of the old artificial pitch, a much smaller grass football pitch was built, which can be used in addition to the synthetic pitch that is open to the public.

Planting concept

The near-natural design concept always includes planting that consists largely of native species. These are part of the flower meadow mixtures sown on the hill and between the new shrub areas, but also the selection of shrubs and trees contain many native species, which with their flowers and fruits are an important source of food for insects, birds and other animals in the urban space.

Another important aspect of our planting plans, however, is always the usability of the plants for people: plants in play areas, once they have reached a certain size, can be included in play by children, for example the bendable canes of shrub willows, flowers and fruits for sand play art and the like. Later, the shrub areas can be used for playing hide and seek. Until the plantings are sufficiently large, they are protected from too many children's feet by a simple fence made of wooden stakes and rope. This works very well in most areas, only on the large play hill the children sometimes "cheat" their way between sandstone steps and boundaries to get to the top faster, which leads to the trampling of plants and the removal of the top layer which thus needs to be touched up.

The raised beds on the dining terrace in front of the refectory are planted with strawberries, tea and aromatic herbs as well as sweet fruit bushes, but also many flower bulbs and flowering perennials. At the future school garden site, fruit tree half stems, berries and wild fruit bushes as well as mini kiwis have been planted along the fence and the beds have already been prepared for cultivation.

Statement of the school management

"If we look out of the windows of our school, we can see a generously laid out schoolyard, which is suitable for children and located in the midst of greenery. We are happy that it is now almost finished.

With all its facilities and play equipment, it offers children many opportunities to spend time on it, to rest, to try things out, to engage in sports and to enjoy nature. There is something for everyone! We have observed again and again how much it contributes to a relaxed togetherness among the children. All our school staff enjoys this ambience, because especially the climbing hill and the raised beds with their variety of native plants provide a changing splendour of blossoms and attract thousands of insects. 

Even though it took a very long time and the first initiatives were years ago, many efforts were necessary and setbacks had to be accepted, it shows that a lot was set in motion through the activities of the parents. This great schoolyard was created thanks to the refurbishment plans for the school and the school grounds in cooperation with the school administration office, structural engineering office and Mrs. Kroll from the planning office for landscape architecture and playground design. We say thank you!"

Summary

After more than 5 years of planning and construction, the last construction phase for the time being could finally be opened for the pupils in 2020. The replacement of the gymnasium and the associated outdoor sports facilities with running track and long jump remain, however, to be done. 

In addition to the comprehensive refurbishment and partial new construction of the buildings, the open spaces were redesigned in sections. The sealed areas were greatly reduced and the quality of stay increased by shading the overheated areas with extensive new plantings. The focus was on the creation of challenging play and exercise facilities for the children in a near-natural environment.

The example of the primary school "Am Hechtpark" shows that an urban school location with many children and a nature-oriented design do not have to be mutually exclusive. Only by giving children access to nature in everyday life they can learn to understand it as an asset worth protecting. 

Further information:

- Four-grade municipal primary school with 450 pupils

- School with all-day facilities, after-school care from 6:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

- approx. 10,000 sqm open space

- Location in Dresden's Hechtviertel (Wilhelminian style development)

- Construction costs: approx. 1 million euros, 4 construction phases, funding of the entire construction measure by the Free State of Saxony within the framework of the funding programme "Bridges to the Future".