Topping-out ceremony for one of the major school development projects of the Archdiocese of Hamburg in the Hanseatic city: In the immediate vicinity of the Barmbek Mesterkamp quarter, Vicar General Father Sascha-Philipp Geißler and the school community celebrated an important milestone on the way to the completion of the new school building, which cost 25 million euros, with 250 guests, supporters and cooperation partners. The modern three-stream pre-school and primary school with daycare center, cafeteria, green classroom and its own sports hall should be ready for occupancy in the first half of the 2025/26 school year. In the future, 360 children will be able to attend the pre-school and primary school classes. “With the topping-out ceremony, we are entering the hot phase of this important future project, so to speak,” explained Geißler.
Green classroom and room of silence
Following the dedication speech, the Pallottine Father, wearing a white construction helmet, blessed the two-storey building in the immediate vicinity of St. Sophia’s Church.
The foyer, auditorium and cafeteria on the ground floor as well as learning and group rooms on the two upper floors are grouped around an open three-storey access area. In the future, all classes will have group and differentiation rooms that can be connected. The connecting element on the upper floors is the Bieling Architects The new building, which was designed to be around 5,000 m² in size, has an opening to a garden terrace that can be used either as a school garden or a green classroom. An additional highlight is the adjacent room of silence.
The day-care center, which is integrated into the ground floor and has two crèche and two elementary groups, will have its own outdoor area at the rear of the schoolyard. The order and material of the church’s listed facade are reflected in the profiled clinker surfaces of the barrier-free new building and allow for an invigorating plasticity when light falls on it. “With the new Sophien Campus, we are creating completely new conditions for future learning. It will be a unique ensemble of school and day-care center, monastery and church that will offer children outstanding development opportunities,” explained Dr. Christopher Haep, Head of the School and University Department of the Archdiocese of Hamburg. Haep thanked the approximately 40 companies involved, who had made considerable progress on the new building with “professional management and great personal commitment.”
