Swiss school extension by Zwimpfer Partner and BBK fronted by slender wooden battens
Internal lighting shines between the vertical larch battens that clad this extension to a primary school near Basel by Swiss firms Zwimpfer Partner Architekten and BBK Architekten.
![school and gym by Zwimpfer Partner AG](http://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/07/school-and-gym-by-Zwimpfer-Partner-AG_dezeen_468_9.jpg)
Situated in the centre of the village of Biel-Benken, the facility by Zwimpfer Partner Architekten and BBK Architekten adds to the original buildings at Kilchbühl school, which date from 1964.
It comprises two interconnected wings containing teaching facilities and a gym hall that fill a vacant plot between the existing buildings and a new village square at the other end of the site.
![school and gym by Zwimpfer Partner AG](http://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/07/school-and-gym-by-Zwimpfer-Partner-AG_dezeen_468_2.jpg)
The schoolhouse section was completed last year and was joined more recently by the perpendicular gym hall, forming a sheltered outdoor space between the L-shaped exterior and the original school.
![school and gym by Zwimpfer Partner AG](http://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/07/school-and-gym-by-Zwimpfer-Partner-AG_dezeen_468_1.jpg)
Both sections of the building feature concrete cores wrapped entirely in battens of untreated local larch with different depths, which create a pattern across the facades that alters when viewed from different angles.
![school and gym by Zwimpfer Partner AG](http://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/07/school-and-gym-by-Zwimpfer-Partner-AG_dezeen_468_8.jpg)
"A rhythmic sequence of larch wood panels leads the eye along the exterior walls," said the architects.
![school and gym by Zwimpfer Partner AG](http://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/07/school-and-gym-by-Zwimpfer-Partner-AG_dezeen_468_12.jpg)
The wooden cladding covers high window openings on the west-facing wall of the gym hall to limit the amount of direct sunlight entering the building.
![school and gym by Zwimpfer Partner AG](http://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/07/school-and-gym-by-Zwimpfer-Partner-AG_dezeen_468_10.jpg)
"Interacting with the inner space of the building the wooden facade stays tangible in every room and influences the atmosphere by reflecting and filtering the sunlight," said the team.
![school and gym by Zwimpfer Partner AG](http://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/07/school-and-gym-by-Zwimpfer-Partner-AG_dezeen_468_5.jpg)
The gymnasium burrows into a sloping section of the site and features exposed concrete beams supporting the large span of its ceiling.
![school and gym by Zwimpfer Partner AG](http://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/07/school-and-gym-by-Zwimpfer-Partner-AG_dezeen_468_6.jpg)
Daylight entering the hall through clerestory windows is supplemented by strip lighting between the ceiling beams. Walls are painted white and the open space can be configured in various ways.
![school and gym by Zwimpfer Partner AG](http://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/07/school-and-gym-by-Zwimpfer-Partner-AG_dezeen_468_7.jpg)
At the highest part of the plot, a concrete ramp connects the older part of the school to an entrance on the upper floor of the two-storey teaching building.
![school and gym by Zwimpfer Partner AG](http://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/07/school-and-gym-by-Zwimpfer-Partner-AG_dezeen_468_11.jpg)
This level houses the classrooms and adjoining groupwork rooms, while additional work spaces, storage and technical facilities are located on the lower storey.
![school and gym by Zwimpfer Partner AG](http://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/07/school-and-gym-by-Zwimpfer-Partner-AG_dezeen_468_4.jpg)
Dappled light filtering through the timber screens illuminates the stairwells connecting the two levels, which feature wooden handrails set into the concrete walls.
![school and gym by Zwimpfer Partner AG](http://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/07/school-and-gym-by-Zwimpfer-Partner-AG_dezeen_468_3.jpg)
A long corridor that bisects the school building on the ground floor contains low-level concrete benches and storage integrated into white fitted cabinetry so the space can be used as a cloakroom.
Photography is by Johannes Marburg and Eik Frenzel.
![school and gym by Zwimpfer Partner AG](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/07/school-and-gym-by-Zwimpfer-Partner-AG_dezeen_0.gif)
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![school and gym by Zwimpfer Partner AG](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/07/school-and-gym-by-Zwimpfer-Partner-AG_dezeen_2.gif)
![Swiss school extension by Zwimpfer and BBK](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2014/07/school-and-gym-by-Zwimpfer-Partner-AG_dezeen_3.gif)