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A pioneer project wants to create urgently needed school space and at the same time make better use of the church.
A new school room in an old church – that has probably not happened in many places, if at all. The Wipkingen Reformed Church in the Zurich district of the same name is planning exactly that together with the city of Zurich: from the summer of 2026, schoolchildren are to be given new classrooms in a church.
planning for the future
In the city of Zurich there are more and more people and also more and more children. Because of this, schools constantly have a space problem. The churches in the city, on the other hand, have the exact opposite problem: Fewer and fewer people attend the service. Meanwhile, there are even churches that are no longer used for their original purpose. One of them is the Reformed Church in Wipkingen, which has not been used as a church since 2019 and is now used by clubs.
It therefore made sense for both parties to use synergies and plan for the future. Because in the catchment area of the neighboring Waidhalde school, there are currently a particularly large number of children who will one day go to school. The forecasts calculate that additional classrooms will have to be created in the catchment area for around ten more primary and secondary classes by around 2032.
The school building is right next door and you can see that it is bursting at the seams.
Changing the use of the church helps ease the tense situation a little. The Reformed church community saw it that way and agreed to the conversion on May 18th. Michael Hauser is responsible for the real estate in the parish and says that the city was the partner of choice for the conversion from the start: “We approached the city very quickly because the school building is right next door and you can see that it’s gone bursting at the seams.”
Classic classrooms were not an option
The city of Zurich then considered what was possible in this large building, says Zurich building manager André Odermatt. It was quickly noticed that there was not enough light in the church for classrooms. “A second problem is that we cannot heat this huge volume.” This is how the idea of dividing the space with a thermal cushion was born. In addition, so-called cubes should create additional space that can be heated more efficiently.
Legend:
This is what the converted church should look like one day
The visualization shows how those responsible imagine the conversion: The white-transparent film layer serves as an insulating layer so that on cold days only the room below and not the entire church has to be heated. Cubes connected with a walkway create additional space.
Zurich city
The heating should be sustainable: either via a district heating network or with a heat pump.
The additional school room is then to be used as a catering and care room. There will also be space for a library and a multi-purpose hall. This change of use could free up three to four classrooms in the neighboring Waidhalde school complex. “In this way, we can use a creative solution to defuse the persistently high need for school space in the Waidberg school district,” explains school principal Filippo Leutenegger.
New life for the church
However, the structural challenge should not be underestimated, says André Odermatt. According to feasibility studies, however, the planned conversion should work. It is important that all conversions and installations “impair the appearance of the spacious church interior as little as possible” and are carried out in such a way that they can be reversed.
The city expects conversion costs of around eight million Swiss francs. The rent would be around 150,000 francs a year. The city parliament will still debate the project and the loan.