Freies Gymnasium Zürich

The Freies Gymnasium Zürich is part of a development in Zürich Riesbach that includes various public functions and park-like green spaces. Designed in 1972 by Felix Rebmann und Ernst Friedrich Cramer, this complex is included in the inventory of buildings of municipal importance in terms of art and cultural history that are deemed worthy of protection. The modelled volumes precisely embedded in the terrain and the diverse, clearly articulated outdoor spaces make it a fine example of school design from its time.

The main building with the classrooms, school hall and dining hall consists of a two-storey plinth with an internal courtyard, and a seven-storey tower. A second, lower volume houses the sports halls. A new study hall, proposed as a work sample as part of the planner selection procedure, uses the urban design principles on which the existing complex is based and improves the situation at the corner of Arbenz-/Mühlebachstrasse: the extension is an almost square, somewhat taller volume placed directly beside the sports halls where it engages in a dialogue with the other higher elements of the ensemble and integrates the existing halls in a field of tension composed of high and low points. The new building adopts the proportions and materiality of the gym hall facades, in this way strengthening the cohesion of this duet.

The reorganisation of the classrooms on the fifth and sixth floors takes account of new educational concepts such as project teaching, research learning or the “flipped classroom.” The educational landscape for flexible teaching and learning allows both individual and group work, while also facilitating recreation and a sense of community. The interior design retains the plain materiality and bare quality which, both inside and outside, underlines the clear, reduced formal language of the complex. Further works include the redesign of the surroundings, the renovation of the facades, and the modernisation of building services.