Schulhaus, Neuhausen
Neuhausen am Rheinfall, Switzerland 2015–2020
Client: Gemeindeverwaltung Neuhausen am Rheinfall
The school is the first phase of a larger urban scheme planned by Caruso St John, the commission for which was won in an invited competition organised by the city. The site is in the centre of Neuhausen, mid-way between the main railway station and the famous Rheinfall waterfalls.
The school’s existing building was built at the beginning of the twentieth century, and its combination of a robust rough-hewn stone base, centralised façades and large tiled roof, make it one of the more prominent public buildings in the city.
The project was required to double the size of the school, and it extends the existing building with a new volume in line with its eave, to define the first of the public places of the greater site. An extensive restoration and restructuring of the existing building, alongside accommodation in the new building, provides a kindergarten, elementary and high schools, as well as a large public hall that can be used by the school and by the community.
While the existing school is robust and slightly Romanesque in its architectural language, the new school has a taut stucco skin that is consistent and modern. The ground floor and end elevation of the new building are built with in-situ concrete in a reduced classical language, to emphasise the public use of the building and its role in the formation of a new civic centre for Neuhausen.
In addition to the school, the wider site will be occupied by a new town hall and the main fire station. There is also a plan for a variety of housing types for families and the elderly. The project envisages a loose constellation of buildings – related to each other in architectural language and scale – accommodating the required programme in a flexible way, while defining a precise network of open spaces for a public market, for sport and for children’s play.












Drawings

Site plan

Floor plan

Floor plan
Related news
Lecture
History and its Opposite
L’École Nationale Supérieure d’Architecture et de Paysage de Lille
12th May 2022
Adam Caruso will give a lecture entitled History and its Opposite for the Tools Conference at the L’École Nationale Supérieure d’Architecture et de Paysage de Lille.
The school year has started at Neuhausen am Rheinfall's newly refurbished primary school. Caruso St John's project to refurbish and extend the exiting building is the first part of a larger urban scheme that includes a new town hall, market place, main fire station, and a range of housing for families and the elderly.
Credits
Date
2016–2020
Location
Neuhausen am Rheinfall, Switzerland
Client
Gemeindeverwaltung Neuhausen am Rheinfall
Caruso St John Architects
Adam Caruso, Peter St John, Michael Schneider, Florian Zierer
Project Architects
Thomas Wirz (2016-2020), Henrik Axelsson (2017-2020)
Project Team
Lukas Brusch, Lucius Delsing, Giosue Figliuolo, Christoph Hayn, João Moreira, Vicente Nequinha, David Reisinger, David Vincent
Structural engineers
Wüst Rellstab Schmid AG
Cost consultant
WT Partner AG
Project Manager
BTH+ Bautreuhand
Fire & security
Wüst Rellstab Schimd AG
Acoustics
Zehnder & Käln AG
Landscape Architect
Ghiggi Paesaggi GmbH
Building physics
Zehnder & Kälin AG
Signaletics
Schmid & Schwitter AG
Catering
Gastroeinrichtungen GmbH
Carpentry
Bantli AG
Photography
Philip Heckhausen
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