Hilda-Gymnasium

Light for Learning
LTS products for the Hilda secondary school in Pforzheim

Non scholae, sed vitae discimus – We do not learn for school, but for life.
With a new building for a full-time school with a three-field sports hall for an audience of 2,000, the city of Pforzheim sets a motivating sign to get closer to this goal.

The façade alone with its generous glass surface area perks up tired students by the high amount of daylight in the classrooms. Fresh pastel green colour on floors, in staircases and on furniture spreads an energetic atmosphere flowing like a green ribbon throughout the school building. The other building areas are characterized by unobtrusive fair-face concrete, leaving the colourful goings-on to the students.

Numerous studies have meanwhile shown that light and learning are in a direct relationship. "Concentration can be raised significantly with the appropriate lighting concept", reports Götz Biller, Managing Director of the Rossmann + Partner achitecture firm from Karlsruhe. "With this in mind, we wanted to utilize the lighting concept specifically to support the different areas existing within the school. For example, we found that Lunata from LTS is the ideal lighting solution for the hall and the areas outside of the classrooms."

It conveys particular easiness with five perfectly adapted sizes and its tender indirect light. The random arrangement achieves an intentional directionless effect so that the generosity and clarity of the rooms can be brought to bear. This seems to transform the hall to a self-confident light sculpture particularly in the evenings and in the dark season.

Additional LTS Edel+Stahl high-grade steel downlights provide an exciting contrast with the raw-cut concrete architecture, conveying a noble character to the ensemble with their high-grade finish.

"The feedback from students, teachers and parents is great", reports Götz Biller. "We feel that this building is a perfect example which demonstrates that investments in the educational sector always pay off and are therefore more important than ever." This is also confirmed by the Chamber of Architects of Baden-Württemberg: The new Hilda secondary school building in Pforzheim received the award for "Exemplary Buildings". One would immediately like to be a student again.


Architects: Rossmann + Partner Architekten, Karlsruhe