III. Gimnazija Maribor

In the design of schools from the Austro-Hungarian period, the idea of connecting the school building with a landscaped park was realized, allowing students to spend their free time outdoors, something considered beneficial for their physical and mental health. We aim to preserve this important message today as well, as the new building opens even more toward the existing green landscape and brings it into the interior.

III. Gimnazija Maribor, also known as the Maribor Teacher’s School, was founded in 1863 as one of Slovenia’s first teacher-training institutions. It became renowned for its high-quality education under principals like Henrik Schreiner. Over time, the school offered various programs and adopted its current name in 1990.

The new extension is more than an addition; it represents a contemporary interpretation of the school complex, complete with a gymnasium. Thoughtfully designed in response to its surroundings, it complements the existing historical structure and creates a unified ensemble that presents two distinct faces: one, a historical façade facing the city center, and the other, a contemporary front aligned with the future urban redevelopment along Gregorčičeva Street.

The robust base, housing service areas, and the sports hall are recessed into the ground. Above it, a covered entrance platform with a transparent lobby connects visually and spatially to both the western sports park and the eastern school garden. A three-story volume appears to float above the ground floor, supported at four strategic points.

One of the four ground-floor supports takes the form of a stepped pyramid. Internally and externally, the pyramid functions as an amphitheater and can be used as an agora or a space for public speaking.

The compact layout preserves the eastern school garden almost entirely, transforming it into a "hortus conclusus" — an enclosed green sanctuary tailored to the school’s diverse needs. At the same time, it enables flexible classroom arrangements and the possibility of opening learning spaces to the outdoors where appropriate.

The new proposal envisions a spatial network organized around a central atrium that rises through multiple floors and culminates in the greenhouse learning landscape on the roof. This structure is designed for adaptability, capable of evolving with emerging pedagogical models.

The top floor, under a dynamic glass roof with integrated shading, is conceived as a greenhouse, a learning landscape both inside and out. Informal learning zones are created through flexible furnishings and movable partitions inside, while covered, plant-lined terraces offer shaded outdoor spaces with views of the surrounding greenery.