CONSTRUCTION OF NEW JOHN CRANKO SCHOOL

The John Cranko School in Stuttgart was completed after a construction period of nearly five years. It is the first new ballet school to be built in Germany. The students, who formerly attended school in cramped conditions in an old building, can now join the dancers of the Stuttgart Ballet to study, train and rehearse in the new 6,100 square meter facility. The John Cranko School includes a boarding school for 80 students, a stage for rehearsals, eight ballet halls, physiotherapy and administration rooms, and a canteen.

The design by Munich-based architectural firm Burger Rudacs skilfully exploits the site and the urban planning constraints. Measuring 90 meters by 36, the long concrete and glass building ascends the steeply sloping hillside plot like a stairway. The 21 meters difference in height had to be harmonized with the extensive design of space. The usable floor area is spread across 10 floors. The new building is also exemplary in terms of energy. An underground ice storage tank provides regenerative cooling for the building in summer, while district heating warms the building in winter. The optimized building envelope and highly efficient heat recovery by the ventilation system round out the energy concept.