Schulhaus Walka, Zermatt, 2016, Competition 2nd Prize

Stepped terrace landscape

Like the existing individual late-19th century buildings, such as the community hall and the Hotel Monte Rosa, two free-standing buildings are proposed that can be well integrated into neighbourhood and form a stepped terrace landscape. At the same time, this creates an attractive, diverse network of paths leading to the upper Tschugge neighbourhood.


The primary school is accommodated in the eastern school building towards the village centre, while the western school building houses the kindergarten and day care centre. The slightly deformed ground-plans and the gently sloping roofs create smoother building volumes that are naturally integrated into the geometry of the neighbourhood. The big public uses such as the double sports hall and the auditorium are situated in the terraced plinth.


The overground buildings are supported by a stable exterior envelope made of in-situ cast concrete, which also simplifies the load transfer in the stepped plinth. Ceilings and interior walls on the upper floors consist of load-bearing timber elements, while the transverse walls are non-supporting elements made of local larch wood.

Address

Metztggasse 31, 3920 Zermatt

Commission

School building

Procedure

Competition 2016, 2. Prize

Team

Mirco Cortesi, Christian Cortesi, Lorenzo Giuliani, Christian Hönger, Julia Koch, Mathias Kühn, Nadia Vontobel