Menzingen Cantonal School : renovation of a post-war modern gem

The former Bernarda teacher-training centre in Menzingen was built between 1955 and 1958 by the two renowned Zug architectural teams of Hanns A.

Brütsch and Alois Stadler, and Leo Hafner and Alfons Wiederkehr.

The school on a gentle slope in the midst of the attractive landscape between Lake Zug and Lake Zurich is an exceptional example of 1950s Swiss architecture.

The facility impresses with its staging of the exposed location, the coherent arrangement of five highly individualised buildings around a circular centre, and the notable design of the open spaces by Ernst Cramer. Between 2015 and 2018, the facility was extended and refurbished by the architects Bünzli & Courvoisier, transforming it for its new use as a cantonal school.

The architects were strongly guided by the urban-planning and architectural design principles of the existing structures, while framing and expanding them with great respect and an undogmatic approach to consciously blur the boundaries between old and new.

The book documents the existing facility with original plans and the clear-contoured, black & white pictures by the renowned Lucerne photographer Peter Ammon.

Furthermore, the volume extensively reflects upon and documents in detail the school’s exciting, exemplary renovation.

Text in English and German.