Vocational School in Bolzano

Abstract

The building’s outer aspect was determined by urban planning considerations. A monumental two-story portico perpendicular to the main street leads into the lot to the entrance of the school. The complex is composed of three buildings of different heights and lengths. The atrium is located between the first and second, a vast covered courtyard flooded with light, a central space defined by the structure of the roof, with double symmetrical staircases that face the great void from two sides, and by the accessways to all the facilities: laboratories, offices, classrooms. The second and third buildings are connected by elevated steel walkways fully visible from the street, whose glass facades have been decorated by the Viennese artist Heimo Zobernig. A simple access system offers the 120 teachers and approximately 1000 students easy orientation inside the seven-storey building. The third floor of the central volume has a terrace used as an outdoor recreation area. Most of the facades are in exposed concrete, steel and glass. All the internal works are in fiber plaster, a material that generates a comfortable atmosphere and has a useful sound-absorbing effect. A first part of the complex began operation in January 2005, after the first construction phase, while the remaining structure, with the workshops and laboratories, was completed in the fall of 2007.