STS Ehestorfer Weg

For the shift to full-day schooling, the public school, STS Ehestorfer Weg, needed a flexible break-out space for their students. We have transformed the old hall into a harbor-themed learning environment that offers differentiated learning situations and hang-out areas. The hall plays a key role in a process of educational reorientation and innovation.

The breakout area is the heart of the school and presents an intriguing maritime landscape themed by Hamburg’s busy and dynamic ports. With an engine room below deck, a lighthouse, a cargo hold and a cabin, the spatial framework for cooperation and collaboration, critical thinking, creativity and relaxed retreat is created. The facilities promote diverse and flexible usage and offers a motivating setting for learning.

The children now have a space that complements the traditional classrooms: Whether you need individual support to focus, you are looking for project space, or you are engaged in extra curriculum activities, the environment offers a variety of spaces to serve different learning needs.

With many students from underprivileged backgrounds, the new playful breakout space at STS Ehestorfer Weg celebrates the joy of learning, nurtures a strong student community, and emphasizes the school’s effort to provide quality education for all of their students.

The port also refers to the pedagogical concept. Port in German is “Hafen” and the five letters is for Halten (hold), Ankommen (arrive), Fördern/Fordern (encourage/challenge), Entspannen (relax), Neuausricten (realign). The school wants to say goodbye to a pedagogy that is exclusively geared towards the classroom and promote a learning environment that is student-centered.

The project was awarded the Hamburg Education Prize in 2019.

(In August 2021, the school changed its name to Elisabeth-Lange-Schule)