Shell children's school for children with autism and interim daycare center

Back in 1995, a parents' initiative in Nuremberg founded the so-called Muschelkinderschule for children with early childhood autism. The project, which was unique in Germany at the time, set itself the task of supporting autistic children - "hidden pearls under a seemingly hard shell" - so that they could participate in social and cultural life. Today, the small school with three classes in primary and middle school and one vocational school class is affiliated with the Comenius School support center of Rummelsberger Diakonie e.V. In 2016, the sponsor announced a competition for a new school building on the site of a new urban quarter being built in the south of Nuremberg, which we won together with Huber Staudt Architekten (Berlin). We were also commissioned by WBG Kommunal GmbH to plan a municipal day nursery on the directly adjacent site.



The plans for the new quarter between Tiroler Strasse and Ingolstädter Strasse are primarily for social facilities. To the north, it is closed off by the listed building of the Z-Bau cultural center, which forms an important reference point for the new buildings and their orthogonal development system. An existing Rummelsberger Diakonie daycare center borders the site on the western edge. The two new buildings are grouped around a square that will act as a forum for the neighborhood in the future. There are currently plans to erect two more individual buildings here. The two slightly offset structures were built using a monolithic construction method with masonry made of porous perforated bricks. Light-colored plastered facades with entrance areas open onto the square. A narrow, two-storey hall with skylight forms the spatial center of the daycare building, which has a gross floor area of 1,289 square meters and space for 110 children, as well as outdoor play areas. The school building with a gross floor area of 1,929 square meters, on the other hand, is oriented inwards. It encloses a green inner courtyard, which is glazed all around and has wood-clad façades. Seven to eight pupils aged between 6 and 21 are taught in each class. The special educational focus is on the children's special perceptual processing. The architecture responds to this with clear spaces and opportunities for retreat.



The outdoor facilities of the school for shell children consist of the sheltered inner courtyard and the enclosed garden that surrounds the school building to the north, west and south. The inner courtyard, which is approx. 140 m² in size and not underbuilt, is characterized by a covered terrace and a lawn. There is a wooden deck for sitting and lounging on the lawn. An umbrella-shaped cinnamon maple (Acer griseum) integrated into the wooden deck gives the garden a picturesque touch. The garden of the Muschelkinderschule is divided into a flat area that surrounds the building to the north, west and south and an existing slope to the west with an extensive hillside meadow. Another special feature is the height difference to the grounds of the neighboring daycare center, which averages approx. 85 centimeters. An angular retaining wall with seating blocks in front of it absorbs this difference in height and marks the boundary to the daycare center on the one hand and the transition to the sloping meadow on the other. The sloping meadow was largely extensively landscaped and planted with apple trees. To the north, the children have access to a slope slide, which is accessed via block steps set into the slope. There is a small seating area in front of the existing wall of the neighboring property, from where there is a good view of what is happening in the school garden below. The level school garden is divided into three parts: In the western section, in front of the gymnastics room, there is an "activity strip" with a terrace, two swings (nest and single swing) and a ground trampoline. In the narrow strip to the north, a planting area with perennials and fruit bushes has been planted. A free-growing hedge of flowering shrubs and three amber trees (Liquidamber styraciflua 'Worplesdon') frame and protect this area in the transition to the fallow land to the north, which will remain undeveloped for the foreseeable future. The accumulating slope and stratum water is collected in a grassy depression at the foot of the slope and channelled into a trough trench.



The forum square is designed as a multifunctional, car-free open space. A frame made of dark cast stone slabs is available as a movement area for the fire department and transport services. The green center of the forum consists of a central infiltration area lowered by around 30 centimeters, two planting areas and two paved areas with benches. Four flowering ash trees (Fraxinus ornus) provide shade and characterize the future forum. The outdoor facilities of the day-care center, which were intensively coordinated with the WBGK, the youth welfare office and the Nuremberg advisory board for the disabled, are divided into three areas with various activities for children aged up to 6 years and 6-10 years. The play equipment provided particularly encourages movement and trains physical dexterity and a sense of balance. A paved circular path made of simple concrete paving provides access to all areas and can be used for vehicles. Along the west side, a climbing course for 6-10 year olds is provided next to a nest swing. Adjacent to this is a 40 square meter tool shed clad with wooden slats to house the play equipment, vehicles and garden tools, the northern end of which is used as a boulder wall. A slope slide integrates the topography of the southern slope into the children's play area. Wood chippings are mainly used as fall protection material. In front of the covered terrace is a sand play area for children up to the age of 6. This is equipped with wooden balancing elements, a playhouse and an awning to provide shade. The southern and eastern lawns are available for free play. The garden is framed by a robust planting of non-toxic, free-growing shrubs (including Cornus, Forsythia, Spiraea, Philadelphus and Symphoricarpos). Three Himalayan birches (Betula utils 'Dorenboos') mark the western side of the plot, a large-crowned ash tree (Fraxinus angustifolia 'Raywood') provides shade in the middle of the garden and a group of small-crowned ornamental cherries (Prunus serrulata 'Pink Perfection') accentuates the eastern part of the garden.