Gymnasiums, Secondary Schools

Abstract

The Vocational High School of Design in Maribor represents the first ever conversion of a former military complex at Tabor into a school centre. The new design has almost entirely preserved the complex, which is an historical monument, only slightly altered it for its new purpose as a school. Two L-shaped wings have been added, one housing classrooms and the other workshops. The space of a former stairway, which was demolished, became the central hall, opening from the ground floor to the roof. It represents a connection point of all the paths within the building and the meeting point between the public space (the street) and the semi-public courtyard of the school complex. Its transparent roof proves to be an innovative way of linking the historic building with the extension and, at the same time, clearly marking the time difference in their construction.