Rosa Luxemburg School is a so-called "green" school in the centre of Potsdam, which offers a charming learning environment for everyone. The green grasses were also taken up as a central design motif in the outdoor facilities in the form of three-dimensional play elements on which visitors can climb, do gymnastics and hand-over-hand climbing. A colourful diversity of small and big, loud and quiet, fast and slow people characterises the image of the reliable half-day school. It is especially children with and without impairments and with special abilities who are learning here.
Rosa Luxemburg School has had a chequered history. Initially founded in 1971 as the polytechnic all-day secondary school "Rosa Luxemburg" (Polytechnische Ganztags-Oberschule, POS), it was a comprehensive school in the meantime before being converted into a four-form primary school in the early 1990s. Since 2012 it has been an inclusive school. Over 520 pupils from grades 1 to 6 learn together under one roof and Montessori pedagogy, weekly plan work and project work are of great importance.
The school building, a typical GDR building of the Erfurt type, was extensively refurbished from 2001 onwards and a new cafeteria was added. The last building block was the construction of a new day care centre (KITA), which had previously been housed for years in a container in the north-east part of the site. In order to maintain the KITA operation, the new building was erected on the school's former football field. The new buildings led to extensive restructuring of the existing outdoor facilities. Where the day care centre used to be, the running track and the sports field were built. Between the school and the cafeteria, a new playground was built, while the entrance area of the school was reorganised. To the northwest of the new KITA building there is a car park, which also serves as a delivery area for the cafeteria.
Although the school is located in the centre of Potsdam, it fortunately has a spacious outdoor area. This was very helpful for the reorganisation of the open spaces, which had to take place while the school was in operation and at full capacity. Pupils, teachers and parents needed a lot of patience, as the refurbishment of the buildings and the barrier-free renewal of the outdoor areas took several years.
A great wish of the students came true with the painting of the façades. The walls of the GDR school building were divided and structured with oversized green grasses and yellow sunbeams, thus giving the facades a new, striking and, above all, distinctive look.
The grasses were also taken up as a design leitmotif in the outdoor facilities in the form of three-dimensional play elements on which visitors can climb, do gymnastics and hand-over-hand climbing. The sculptural grasses thus represent an identity-creating connection between the building and the outdoor space. The idea for the grasses was developed in cooperation with the company Zimmer.Obst. Particular attention was paid to play elements allowing creative, diverse uses. Area nets, climbing plates and ropes, hand-over-hand ladders and wobbling beams are spread across the schoolyard like a course. Only durable, certified robinia wood was used.
The open space represents an important learning and living space. The pandemic has increased its importance and will continue to do so in the future. School open spaces must therefore be, above all, robust, diverse and compensatory for learning. Retreat spaces are just as important as differentiated movement spaces in order to create incentives for children with sometimes very different physical conditions. This idea is also reflected in the redesign of the schoolyard, which is meant to be a play, learning and event yard and an attractive meeting place in the future.
Between the sculptural blades of grass there is a movement landscape of beige-yellow play hills made of soft plastic surfacing. They can be run and played on and are designed barrier-free for wheelchair users. They invite to a variety of using options and promote physical activities as well as motor skills. The multifunctional plastic mounds are gently integrated between the existing valuable tree population and provide the schoolyard with a generous, open character that allows for a variety of sensory perceptions, discovery and experiences. A seating area, which is integrated into the play mounds, can be used as a green classroom, for small performances or simply for taking a break.
The newly constructed synthetic playing field and the running track serve as additional exercise areas during breaks, especially for those pupils who want to do sports.
The school garden, which was laid out from the ground, is situated in a protected area behind the sports fields. Thanks to the great commitment of pupils and teachers, together with experts from the GemüseAckerdemie, a multifaceted teaching space for ecology and plant science has been created. Even for the school's own bee colony a habitat has been created meanwhile.
Sub-area KITA
In the north-eastern area of the school grounds, which cover more than 7 500 square metres, the new KITA building, which will be completed in 2020, covers the open spaces oriented towards the schoolyard. To create a visual connection with the schoolyard, the green colour of the sculptural grasses was taken up. Horizontal and sloping beams pile up to form a climbing landscape. Vertical logs as support structures for two play huts and a swing complete the play area.
The KITA open spaces thrive on the tension between a multifaceted play landscape, lawns, and tranquil, shaded retreats that are connected by circular paths. Play hills planted with willow shrubs separate the day care area from the movement space of the older day care children. A sun sail provides shade. With their hiding places and openings, the play mounds form an important part of the play concept.
Planting
The play and recreation areas are bordered by generous areas of shrubs and bushes. When selecting the plants, great importance was attached to a high diversity of species in order to provide food, breeding places and retreats for as many insects, small mammals and birds as possible. Care was taken to plant species that can tolerate long periods of drought and high temperatures in summer, that differ in their leaf structure and texture, and that set flowering accents at different times of the year, with the aim of achieving a balance between aesthetic design, closeness to nature and maintenance requirements.
The newly designed schoolyard became the focal point of the school campus within a very short time. The coherent arrangement of the different functions (schoolyard, sports facilities, outdoor KITA area) has contributed significantly to the creation of a diverse, high-quality open space, providing a balance between challenge and variety and thus attract also older pupils.
Facts about the project:
Client: City of Potsdam, Municipal Real Estate Service
Service: Project planning, work phase 2-8
Performance period: 2011 - 2019
Construction sum: 1.500.000 Euro
Area: 7.500 m²
Landscape architects: Marcel Adam Landscape Architects BDLA
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