High School for Agricultural Sciences – Maribor

The site for new location of High School for Agricultural Sciences is placed at the existing historical Building designed by famous German architect Rudolf Kiffmann in year 1905 at that time for the purpose of winemaking and fruitfarming school. The freestanding four-story building is recognized with a classical and secessionist ornament decorated facade, which symbolically represents fruit farming and winemaking production. It is surrounded by park with protected garden and numerous exotics among the largest sequoia (Sequaidendron gigantemum) in Maribor.

After many years, the building will be reconstructed and extended for contemporary High School for Agricultural Science. The main idea of new design refers to both a structure and the application of processes that are environmentally responsible and resource-efficient throughout a building’s life-cycle. Our »Green Building« proposal include process-oriented requirements to ensure that complete sustainable design and operations opportunities are vetted and that performance requirements are achieved in a cost-effective manner. Prescriptive Performance of the design have to achieve the limited maximum Energy Use, have to include reducing indoor potable water use by a minimum of 35%, include the reduction of water use by at least 50% using the Outdoor Potable Water accumulation. The HVAC installation have to reduce the energy loss by reducing the duct system, smart heating, and ventilating solutions with 95% energy efficiency.

The design of extension building is intertwinement  of conjunctions and boundaries between classroom and agricultural land. The walls are designed as light transmitters, reduced by the tree crowns. Walls are as well an element of natural habitat of various living forms like birds and insects in order to propose a didactic content. At the context of the idea is an architectural ambivalence as you live and study in constantly responsive living environment. An extremely exposed building inside of preserved garden, the architecture is trying to join the spatial composition and to exploit the microclimatic conditions as shadows, wind protection, topography and indirectly light composition.