The Anni-Braun School for students with hearing and speech impairments was established in Johanniskirchen, 35 km east of Munich, in 1993. The school has placed significant emphasis on the relationship between its built form and its natural context from the beginning and this competition entry sets out to continue this tradition. The building is therefore built into the existing hill on the site and will maintain the existing landscape with the adjacent residential buildings to the North-West. Internally the school is arranged with all rooms reached by a single ramp that begins as an extension of the garden beyond, and continues up through three floors to a roof garden above. The ramped form deliberately avoids a precise circular geometry. This, combined with a system of colour coding throughout the building, helps to avoid an institutional monotony and generates a certain intimacy to the various classroom units. This feeling of intimacy and security will be particularly experienced in the central courtyard.