Catholic Sophienschule

Hamburg, Germany

Church and school

With its placement and volume, the design forms the future ensemble of church, monastery and school. The future common forecourt for church and school is at an entrance level slightly above street level. The previous threshold to the church portal will be replaced by barrier-free access at the edge of the square. Access to the monastery is retained. From the forecourt, at a moderate distance between the church and the school, and framed by the three-story new building at the height of the eaves of the church, a proportioned schoolyard opens up. Benches and structured hedge bodies stand on its stone pavement. The head side of the school with its expansive seat walls underlines the address-forming entrance without any isolating effect.

As the new building alternately retreats from its alignment, the structure is divided into well-lit and true-to-scale rooms. The scale of the pillars of the nave provides the template for the rhythm of the facade of the new building and underlines the symbolic coexistence between the parish and the school.