© Hertha Hurnaus
The listed school building in Leoben, Styria’s second-largest city, dates from 1905. Both elementary and secondary school have been housed there for a long time, separately organised. The building’s dark corridors and the shortage of space made an extension necessary. Franz&Sue were able to create synergy effects by enabling certain spaces to be used by both schools. On the north side, facing the park, they transformed a canyon-like space between the U-shaped classroom building and the freestanding two-storey gym hall into a landscape for learning that is bathed in light.