Schoolyard canopy, schoolhouse Breite
Muttenz, Switzerland
2005
Muttenz, Switzerland
2005
Gemeinde Muttenz, Switzerland
Christ & Gantenbein, Basel, Switzerland
Helmuth Pauli, Nico Ros
At the centre of the small town of Muttenz, this “leafy canopy” was built in the schoolyard of a primary and secondary school. It provides pupils and visitors with shelter and protection from the elements. The roof's unconventional shape allows the tops of the planted trees to protrude through it. The tree trunks and steel supports beneath the roof slab form a unit – a forest.
This schoolyard roof's language of forms is reminiscent of a leafy canopy. The 300 t exposed-concrete slab rests on 28 steel supports that are inclined at different angles and it has a topography much like that of a landscape. Despite measuring 40 x 8 m, it is seamless and requires no sealing layer at all.