Mensa Leonberg : A Canteen Between Two Schools

This is a canteen between two schools in Leonberg, Germany. It was completed by Architects SOMAA of Stuttgart and Guido Dongus. It’s called Mensa Leonberg. The building is situated between the street and three existing buildings. It also consists of three circular volumes fusing together to become one undulating form. The new structure of this building connects three existing buildings on the site.

The building creates several interior and exterior zones. Those zones are used to fulfill the various social needs of the two schools. The interior and exterior zones converge and blur the division between outside and inside. There’s the dark asphalt surrounding the building. It continues into the interior through the entry. So, it combines the external and internal circulation spaces.

The internal circulation contains the main entrance, the dining counter and queue. The internal circulation also allows for continuous movement between the three core functional spaces. There’re two areas for dining and meeting. The third space is used for food preparation and other necessary services. There’s black bands mimic the circular forms on the ceiling. These black bands, small, cylindrical, aluminum tubes of differing circumferences were used to create a drop ceiling that disguises the artificial lighting above.

The façade consists of a system of open and closed floor to ceiling panels paired with exterior wooden supports. The shape and orientation of the building was designed to maximize solar gain. So, the southern and eastern sides of the building consist of the main dining areas and have an almost entirely open façade. The natural light is created by that open façade.