Famous for its spas and casino, the small-town Baden bei Wien is decked out magnificently and conveys a somewhat Potemskinite impression. The new Federal Institute for Social Education is located near the town centre.

The Northern half of the plot of land is naturally overgrown and densely forested, whereas the Southern half serves as a car park and has almost no plants.

The school building itself is situated between these two areas, with the classrooms facing North to afford a view of the forested part. The Southern half of the plot of land includes the access road and also acts as a connection to the boarding school at the Northern end.
The internal development of the building is concentrated at the Southern end. The overdimensional development area is at the same time the recreation area for the students. On the first floor, which is where the administration offices are located, this space is taken up by discussion stalls, and on the top storey, where special rooms such as studios and the laboratory are located, it is used as an exhibition space. All classrooms are generously glazed with transparent and translucent glass. In the South, the development areas are lit by room-high, almost square windows, which are also glazed with transparent and translucent glass panes.

The building's innovative energy system reduces the operating costs dramatically.
The entire South facade is made up by large solar collectors. Heat transfer hoses are integrated into the supporting reinforced concrete facade. The facade is insulated on the inside and glazed on the outside. Between the glass and concrete, the facade has a rear-ventilated intermediate area. Thermal energy is transferred to the Northern facade, where reflector plates heat an outer interfacade space. By heating the intermediate area, a higher ambient temperature is simulated, thus reducing the heat transmission from the inside to the outside.

To meet the requirements of the classrooms and the demands of the energy concept, the entire building is faced with glass. For this application, hardened, coloured glass with screen-printing on the inside was used. This creates a translucent effect, revealing the use of the internal spaces from the outside at different times of the day and night.